Yute Commuter Service

Forty-year-old Nathan McCabe was initially charged with scheming to defraud the Bethel-based air carrier and an associated rental property, but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to five years of probation.

The state says McCabe defrauded Bethel businesses Yute Commuter Service and Riverside Apartments out of more than $200,000 over a period of several months.

Five plaintiffs are requesting compensatory damages in excess of $100,000 each, as well as punitive damages for what they call a pattern of operational failures.

Six passengers were on board the flight from Goodnews Bay headed to Bethel. Napakiak residents with snowmachines helped with the rescue.

The National Transportation Safety Board found that "inadequate operational control procedures" were the reason a new pilot was allowed to fly in bad weather. The crash killed five people.

Amongst the three largest airlines that travel to Y-K Delta villages, only Yute Commuter Service (YCS) reported having other planes with the same issue that caused the fire in November 2021, but YCS says the problem was not the company’s fault.

The FAA states that over 200 airplanes in the Y-K Delta were part of the Capstone Project that could be affected by faulty wire installation.

"Just when we go for about 10 feet away from the plane, the plane engulfed in flames,” said Lubova "Lulu" Fisher.

NTSB Alaska Chief Clint Johnson said that the safety board generally does not open investigations unless the airplane is damaged or if there are injuries to passengers. This incident had neither.

“All I can do is tell you everybody's safe and everything's okay. And the aircraft is unharmed and things are good,” said Yute Commuter Service Director of Operations Terry Cratty. “The aircraft was safely landed on the lake, and we had another aircraft go in and pick the people up and move them to their destination.”