We are learning more about the 10 people who died following a commuter plane crash in Alaska, as family members share moving tributes.
Rhone Baumgartner, 46, and Kameron Hartvigson, 41, boarded the flight to Nome after traveling to Unalakleet to work on a heat recovery system servicing the community’s water plant, the Associated Press reported, citing the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
“They had the skills to help people across Alaska and the devotion to do so under any conditions. These two members of our team lost their lives serving others,” David Beveridge, a vice president of ANTHC’s Division of Environmental Health and Engineering, told KNOM radio station.
“They were the best at what they did and had just flown into Unalakleet to help address heating and mechanical issues in the depths of winter,” Natasha Singh, ANTHC interim president and CEO, told the media outlet.
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ALASKA CREWS RECOVER REMAINS OF ALL 10 PLANE CRASH VICTIMS, AUTHORITIES SAY
Rhone Baumgartner, 46, was on the plane that crashed off the east coast of Alaska on Feb. 6, 2025. (Facebook/Rhone Baumgartner)
Kameron Hartvigson, 41, boarded the flight to Nome after traveling to Unalakleet to work on a heat recovery system servicing the community’s water plant, according to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, The Associated Press reported.(Facebook/Kameron Hartvigson)
The pilot killed in the crash has been identified as Chad Antill, 34, of Nome.
The other victims, according to the Anchorage Daily News, were Liane Ryan, 52, of Wasilla; Donnell Erickson, 58, of Nome; Andrew Gonzalez, 30, of Wasilla; Jadee Moncur, 52, of Eagle River; Ian Hofmann, 45, of Anchorage; Talaluk Katchatag, 34, of Unalakleet, and Carol Mooers, 48, of Unalakleet.
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Ryan, a former science teacher and volleyball coach, “had such a cheerful and bubbly personality, and dedicated her post-retirement life to growing new teachers and encouraging them through those first incredibly tough years,” Jamie Burgess, the Superintendent for Nome Public Schools, told KNOM.
BERING AIR PLANE CARRYING 10 PEOPLE VANISHES OVER ALASKA; RESCUE CREWS RESPONDING TO ‘ITEM OF INTEREST’
Liane Ryan, 52, of Wasilla, died when a commuter plane crashed off the coast of Alaska.(Facebook/Liane Ryan)
Erickson, a Bering Strait School District mechanic, was described to the local station as a “really good guy” by Nome resident Michael Nichols.
Donnell Erickson, 58, of Nome, was one of 10 killed in the plane crash in Alaska. (Facebook/Donnell Erickson)
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Katchatag’s oldest sister, AyyuSue Katchatag, said on a GoFundMe page that her brother, “known as TK by many, was such a soft spoken, wise beyond his years, very strong man.”
“Not only strong in stature, but in mind, and spirit. His soul was genuine, and he lived life so matter of factly. TK loved his family, his children, his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, co-workers, and friends,” she continued.
Talaluk Driscoll LaRoi Katchatag, 34, was described by his oldest sister as being a “soft spoken, wise beyond his years, very strong man.”(GoFundMe)
One of San Antonio native Carol Mooers’ sons said on crowdfunding website Spotfund that the Army veteran was an “educator, mentor and community leader.”
“She was on her way to go pick up students to take on college tours in Juneau and Anchorage,” Aaron Mooers wrote, adding that “she deserves the best and she had always wanted to be buried with her fellow service members in San Antonio.”
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San Antonio native Carol Mooers is an Army veteran who “had always wanted to be buried with her fellow service members” her son wrote. (Spotfund)
Authorities are still trying to determine what caused the small commuter aircraft to go down in the icy Bering Sea. The remains of the victims have all been recovered and “officially brought home,” the Nome Volunteer Fire Department wrote on Facebook over the weekend.
The single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from Unalakleet to the hub community of Nome when it disappeared Thursday afternoon.
Ian Hofmann, 45, of Anchorage, was one of 10 killed when as commuter plane went down in Alaska. ( Facebook/Ian Hofmann)
Andrew Gonzalez, 30, of Wasilla, seen here in a photograph shared by his brother on social media, was one of the victims in the Alaska plane crash. (Facebook/Oscar Gonzalez Jr.)
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The plane crash is one of the deadliest in Alaska in 25 years.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch, Landon Mion and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
The first Jesuit missionaries in Alaska sailed up the Yukon River in 1887. By the turn of the 20th century, the religious order of the Catholic Church had as many as 50 Jesuits in the state.
Now, only two remain. And by the end of June, there will be none.
The Jesuits’ nearly 140 years in the state was honored at an event at Bethel’s Immaculate Conception Church on June 16. A procession of priests wearing long white gowns with red hems walked down the aisle to open the event. The Bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks, Stephen Maekawa, thumped the ground with a shimmering silver staff known as a clozier as he approached the altar.
Bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks, Steven Maekawa, walks toward the altar at the Immaculate Conception Church in Bethel.
“My brothers and sisters, we gather together to celebrate this wonderful and blessed occasion to acknowledge the love of God and the work of God through the 139 year mission of the Society of Jesus of the Jesuit fathers,” Maekawa said to open the event.
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A traditional Catholic mass followed, with readings in both English and Yup’ik. During the sermon, Maekawa acknowledged the vastness of the Fairbanks diocese, and the tremendous amount of work done by the Jesuits to establish it.
“All of the 46 churches of the Diocese of Fairbanks that we currently have were established by either the Jesuit fathers or by direction of a Jesuit bishop,” Maekawa said. “We have a long history of the Society of Jesus’ presence and ministry here in all of Alaska.”
The Jesuits are an order within the Catholic Church, akin to the Dominicans or Franciscans. They have a reputation for taking on some of the Catholic Church’s most remote assignments.
That missionary spirit brought the Jesuits to the Yukon River in 1887, where they built churches, schools, and ministries. Without their work, Catholicism may not have taken root in huge swaths of Alaska, particularly among Alaska Native communities.
The Immaculate Conception Church in Bethel.
But the Jesuits leave a complicated legacy. Their methods of converting Native people to the religion, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, created generational traumas still felt to this day.
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Fr. Sean Carroll is the provincial of the Jesuits West Province, which oversees Alaska and nine other states.
Fr. Sean Carroll, provincial of the Jesuits West Province, speaks at an event recognizing nearly 140 years of Jesuit service in Alaska.
“Thank you for all that you have taught us about who Jesus is and how to love and serve Him wholeheartedly,” Carroll said. “I also thank you for your patience with us. For there have been times when we have sinned and when we have hurt you.”
Missionaries, including the Jesuits, forcefully converted and assimilated Alaska Native people into Western culture and religion. Students at Jesuit-run boarding schools were forced to abandon their Native languages and physically punished when caught speaking languages other than English. Native dancing and drumming were also banned.
The Jesuits West Province maintains a list of 150 Jesuits with credible claims of sexual abuse against minors or vulnerable adults. A quarter of the accused Jesuits served in Alaska at some point in time.
“I ask for your forgiveness for all that we have done that was not rooted in Christ and love for Him, and for when we did not value your culture nor recognize the presence of God in you,” Carroll said.
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Carroll gave the order to withdraw from the state last spring. A big issue was the recruitment of Jesuits willing to travel and serve in remote villages. He told the congregation that the Jesuits’ work would continue, just without a permanent presence.
Fr. Rich Magner, one of the two remaining Jesuit priests in Alaska, attends a ceremony in Bethel.
Fr. Rich Magner is one of the two remaining Jesuit priests in Alaska. His last day serving Chevak, Hooper Bay, and Scammon Bay is June 30.
“We all always knew coming in, or should have known, that we’re not going to be here forever. It’s going to be mission accomplished at some point,” Magner said. “And then we hand it off to the diocese that we’ve helped create, and so that’s a good feeling.”
Magner’s next stop is a Clinical Pastoral Education residency in Tacoma, Washington.
The other remaining priest, Fr. Tom Provinsal, first came to Alaska in 1968 to teach. A fond memory, he said, was meeting Elders that practiced traditional subsistence lifestyles.
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“Some of the grandmothers, their fingers were just all bent with arthritis and stuff like that, you know, their whole lives they’ve been working out in the cold and the wet, doing food, sewing, all that kind of stuff,” Provinsal said. “I’d say I just feel very privileged to have come when I did come and to see that.”
Provinsal returned in 1975 as a priest and has served in the region ever since. After moving away, he plans to take a five month sabbatical. What happens next, he said, is in God’s hands.
Two lines formed in the aisle for communion at the end of the mass. After taking communion, Bethel’s Parish Administrator Susan Murphy gave a final thank you.
“It’s difficult to say goodbye to people who have been a part of our lives for so long,” Murphy said. “We know that you have done what was yours to do, and have taught us to do what is ours to do. We are grateful.”
Jesuit priests form a row along the altar of Bethel’s Immaculate Conception Church as members of the congregation lift their arms and pray.
Dominic Hunt, a Yup’ik deacon that flew in from Emmonak for the event, led the congregation through a final prayer.
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“Bless them with your wisdom, that they may be a word of hope, a world in need. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen,” Hunt said.
About 70 people posed for a photo on the altar – priests, deacons, parishioners, Elders and children — many of them smiling, some standing quietly.
The photo doesn’t tell the whole story. But it’s a moment when gratitude, grief, and memory all shared the same room.
Bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks, Steven Maekawa, stands in the middle of a crowd waiting to take a photo at Bethel’s Immaculate Conception Church.
JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – The Supreme Court of Alaska will be taking up the case of the State of Alaska, Division of Elections v. Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.
The oral arguments will be held Monday at 10 a.m. via Zoom, according to an order and opening notice.
The document also specifies that a decision is expected to be made before noon on Tuesday.
According to documents from the Division of Elections, the state must start printing ballots at noon on the same day.
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This comes after an Anchorage Superior Court Judge ordered Dan J. Sullivan on to the ballot Friday.
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