A desperate search has been launched after a plane carrying ten people disappeared over Alaska.
When the Bering Air Caravan plane did not arrive in Nome at approximately 4 p.m. local time, it was reported to be “overdue.”
There were nine passengers and one pilot on board, and it was leaving Unalakleet.
Although crews are desperately trying to determine the plane’s last coordinates, the area’s bad weather has made it difficult to conduct an air search.
To do a ‘grid pattern search’ over the water and shoreline, a Coast Guard aircraft has arrived in the vicinity, outfitted with sophisticated technology that enables it to ‘identify items and persons through no visibility conditions.’.
“We are currently responding to a report of a missing Bering Air caravan,” the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement.
“We are doing an active ground search from Nome and from White Mountain. Due to weather and visibility, we are limited on air search at the current time.”
“National Guard and Coast Guard and Troopers have been notified and are active in the search. Norton Sound Health Corporation is standing by.”
Because of the severe conditions, authorities have forced to advise well-meaning citizens not to undertake any search parties.
“We ask the public to please think of those who may be missing at this time, but due to weather and safety concerns please do not form individual search parties,” the department said.
“Families are encouraged to seek support at Norton Sound Health Corporation.”
When the pilot informed Anchorage Air Traffic Control that he planned to “enter a holding pattern” as he awaited the runway to be cleared, authorities said that was their last known interaction with him.
It is believed that when contact was lost, the aircraft was 12 miles offshore.
FlightRadar data indicates that the Cessna 208B aircraft was last spotted over Norton Sound at 3:16 p.m.
A tiny coastal area in Alaska’s western tip is called Unalakleet.
As personnel scramble through ice and rain to locate the jet, Norton Sound Health Corporation has acknowledged in a statement that it is “standing ready to respond to a community medical emergency.”
Norton Sound Regional Hospital has established a family center where passengers’ loved ones can congregate and await news updates.
Alaskan Senator Dan Sullivan issued a statement on Thursday night, writing on Facebook, “We are hearing reports of a possible missing plane en route to Nome.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the passengers, their families and the rescue crew.”
Less than two weeks have passed since a Black Hawk Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane crashed over the Potomac River in Washington, DC, killing 67 people.
Both flights had no survivors, and whilst the tragedy is still being investigated, all of the dead have now been recovered from the ocean.
