Authorities are conducting a search for a Bering Air plane—which was flying to the coastal city of Nome, Alaska, with 10 people on board—after it was reported missing Thursday.
FILE PHOTO: A man walks towards a Bering Air single engine aircraft at the airport in Nome, Alaska, ... [+]
In a dispatch issued on Thursday evening, Alaska State Troopers said they were contacted about an “overdue aircraft” at 4:00 p.m. AST and confirmed a Bering Air Caravan with 9 passengers and 1 pilot on board was missing.
The plane was flying from the Alaskan coastal city of Unalakleet to Nome—a flight that usually takes less than an hour.
The troopers said search and rescue crews were attempting to find the last known coordinates of the missing plane.
Citing the chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska office, the Anchorage Times reported that the NTSB was aware of the missing plane and was “monitoring the situation.”
In a series of updates on Facebook, the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said a specialized search and rescue C-130 Coast Guard plane had arrived in the area and was flying a “grid pattern over the water and shoreline in attempts to locate the plane.”
This is a developing story.