The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot, according to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety.
The Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., and officials lost contact with it less than an hour later, according to David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air. There was light snow and fog, with a temperature of 17 degrees (minus 8.3 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service.
Officials lost contact with the plane less than an hour later. The Coast Guard said it went missing about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Nome. The aircraft was 12 miles (19 kilometers) offshore, according to the Coast Guard said.
It was operating at its maximum passenger capacity, according to the airline’s description of the plane.
Radar forensic data provided by the U.S. Civil Air Patrol indicated that about 3:18 p.m., the plane had “some kind of event which caused them to experience a rapid loss in elevation and a rapid loss in speed,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble said. “What that event is, I can't speculate to.”
McIntyre-Coble said he was unaware of any distress signals from the aircraft. Planes carry an emergency locating transmitter. If exposed to seawater, the device sends a signal to a satellite, which then relays that message back to the Coast Guard to indicate an aircraft may be in distress. There have been no such messages received by the Coast Guard, he said.
All 10 people on board the plane were adults, and the flight was a regularly scheduled commuter trip, according to Lt. Ben Endres of the Alaska State Troopers.
Local, state and federal agencies assisted in the search effort, combing stretches of ice-dotted waters and scouring miles of frozen tundra.
The plane's disappearance marks the third major U.S. aviation mishap in eight days. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near the nation's capital on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground.
Most Alaska communities are not connected to the state's main road system, and airplanes are often the only option for travel of any distance in rural areas, particularly in winter. The region is prone to sudden snow squalls and high winds in the winter.
Bering Air serves 32 villages in western Alaska from hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. Most destinations receive twice-daily scheduled flights Monday through Saturday. Two Bering Air planes appeared to be searching in a grid pattern just off the coastline Friday morning, according to the flight tracking service Flightradar24.
Unalakleet is a community of about 690 people about 150 miles (about 240 kilometers) southeast of Nome and 395 miles (about 640 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage. The village is on the Iditarod trail, route of the world's most famous sled dog race, during which mushers and their teams must cross the frozen Norton Sound.
Nome, a Gold Rush town, is just south of the Arctic Circle and is known as the ending point of the 1,000-mile (1,610-kilometer) Iditarod. The city said prayer vigils would be held Friday for those on board the plane, friends and family and those involved in search efforts.
Alaska's U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, issued statements saying their thoughts and prayers were with the passengers, their families, rescuers and the Nome community. U.S. Rep. Nick Begich said on the social platform X that he was ready to assist Nome and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy “in any way we can.”
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Golden reported from Seattle. Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.
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