Search underway along Alaska’s western coast for plane carrying 10 people

The city of Nome, Alaska, seen on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Rescuers searched Friday for any sign of a plane that went missing while carrying 10 people across Alaska’s Norton Sound south of the Arctic Circle.

The U.S. Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules crew searched the area between White Mountain and Nome but did not find the missing plane, officials said on X. A Jayhawk helicopter was brought in early Friday. A National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson said the agency is monitoring the situation.

The Bering Air Caravan, a single-engine turboprop, was heading from Unalakleet to Nome on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot, according to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety. Authorities were working to determine its last known coordinates.

Unalakleet is a community of about 690 people in western Alaska, about 150 miles (about 240 kilometers) southeast of Nome and 395 miles (about 640 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage.

The 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 onboard and another person on the ground.

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. The aircraft was 12 miles (19 kilometers) offshore, the U.S. Coast Guard said. It was operating at its maximum passenger capacity, according to the airline’s description of the plane.

“Staff at Bering Air is working hard to gather details, get emergency assistance, search and rescue going,” Olson said.

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.

Airplanes are often the only option for travel of any distance in rural Alaska, particularly in winter.

The Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement on social media that ground crews were searching across part of Alaska’s western coast, from Nome to Topkok. The National Guard and troopers were also helping with the search, the department said.

“Due to weather and visibility, we are limited on air search at the current time,” the department said. People were told not to form their own search parties because the weather was too dangerous.

In an update early Friday, the department said that “crews are still searching on the ground, canvassing as much area as possible,” but that “we do not have any updated information on the location of the missing aircraft.”

It was 17 degrees (minus 8.3 Celsius) in Unalakleet around takeoff, according to the National Weather Service. There was light snow falling and fog.

The names of the people onboard haven’t been released.

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 Trail Sled Dog Race.

Alaska’s U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, issued statements about the missing plane on X, saying their thoughts and prayers are with the passengers, their families, rescuers and the Nome community. U.S. Rep. Nick Begich posted on X that he was ready to assist the community of Nome and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy " in any way we can."