Mystery of Alaskan air tragedy remains unsolved; 10 victims identified

The bodies have been recovered and identified and authorities on Sunday remained determined to solve the mystery of what caused a small plane to lose speed and altitude over Alaska moments before a horrific crash that killed all 10 people aboard.

The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan disappeared from radar Thursday during a 150-mile commuter flight from Unalakleet, a village of about 700 residents, to Nome, a town of less than 4,000 residents best known as the endpoint for the iconic Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Authorities said they were not aware of any distress signals sent by the Bering Air flight. The disappearance of the single-engine turboprop ignited a massive search in harsh weather by state and federal agencies until a helicopter spotted the plane Friday.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into the crash. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said radar contact was lost at about 3:30 p.m. local time Thursday over the Bering Sea. The wreckage was discovered on a drifting ice floe 35 miles from Nome, about 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle.

"Please know that we will work diligently to determine how this happened," Homendy said.

Alaska plane crash updates:Bodies of all 10 victims recovered, identified

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium said two of the passengers worked for the agency and had traveled to Unalakleet to service the community’s water plant. David Beveridge, ANTHC vice president of environmental health and engineering, said Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson were "motivated by a deep commitment" to the agency's mission.

"They had the skills to help people across Alaska and the devotion to do so under any conditions," he said. "These two members of our team lost their lives serving others."

The crash came days after two other tragedies took the lives of scores of people and brought increased scrutiny to U.S. air travel. The collision of a passenger plane and a military helicopter outside Washington, D.C., killed 67 people, and the crash of a Medevac jet in a Philadelphia neighborhood killed all six people aboard plus one person on the ground, where more than 20 others were injured.