The cargo pod allowed Bering Air to operate under a higher maximum weight during normal conditions but not when icing was possible. The plane’s final signal came around 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 6.

Handling of summer deliveries began at the Bering Sea’s all ports ... and each navigation a port usually handles about 440,000 tonnes of cargo, including about 100,000 tonnes of oil products." ...

It was Bering Air’s first fatal crash since 1987, when the pilot of a cargo flight died near Ambler, according to a federal database. Killed in last month’s crash were 34-year-old Nome ...