- Details
- By Kaili Berg
Two employees of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), Rhone Baumgartner, 46, and Kameron Hartvigson, 41, were among those who died in a devastating plane crash last week in Alaska.
The crash, which occurred on Thursday, Feb. 6, approximately 34 miles southeast of Nome, claimed the lives of all ten people on board. It has sent shockwaves through the community that serves Alaska’s remote Native villages through vital health and infrastructure work.
Baumgartner and Hartvigson were both employees in ANTHC’s utility operations division. The two were traveling to Unalakleet to perform critical maintenance on a water plant. Their work was essential in ensuring that Indigneous communities had access to clean water and sanitation services, which remain persistent challenges in many remote areas.
In a statement, ANTHC Interim President and CEO Natasha Singh said Baumgartner and Hartvigson were “passionate about the work they did, cared deeply for the communities they served, and made a lasting impact on rural communities across our state.”
Singh said her thoughts were with their families and “everyone else who lost a loved one today.”
The aircraft, a Bering Air Cessna 208 Caravan, was en route from Unalakleet back to Nome when it lost contact with air traffic control. The plane crashed onto unstable sea ice, making recovery efforts particularly difficult.
A combination of shifting ice, freezing temperatures, and an approaching winter storm complicated efforts to retrieve the victims.
After an extensive operation involving the Alaska National Guard, local search and rescue teams, and the U.S. Coast Guard, authorities were able to recover the remains of all ten victims.
The cause of the crash is currently under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, with initial reports indicating the possibility of severe weather conditions or mechanical failure.
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