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, Anchorage Daily News reported that the NTSB was aware of the missing plane and was “monitoring the situation.”
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.”
In a follow up update early on Friday, the fire department said it did not have “any updated information on the location of the missing aircraft and the search and rescue plans deployed by the military have “reported no visuals.”
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you'll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
Tracking data reported by FlightRadar24 showed the missing aircraft was a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX propeller plane. The plane took off from Unalakleet at 2:38 p.m. local time and its last know position was broadcast 38 minutes later at 3:16 p.m. The plane was flying at 5,300 feet when its last known position was recorded and it appears to have covered more than 70% of the distance of the flight. The tracker also showed a Coast Guard C-130 conducting a low level search flight around Nome.
The carrier's director of operations, David Olson, told the Associated Press that officials on the ground lost contact with the plane less than an hour after it took off. Olson then added, “Staff at Bering Air is working hard to gather details, get emergency assistance, search and rescue going.” In an update on X, the U.S. Coast Guard said: “The aircraft was 12 miles offshore transiting from Unalakleet to Nome when its position was lost.”
In a statement on Facebook, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska. wrote: “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.”
The Nome Volunteer Fire Department said the next update about the search will be provided at 9 a.m. local time.
The disappearance of the Bering Air flight comes on the backdrop on multiple plane-related incidents—including the worst air disaster the in the U.S. since 2001. Late last month, an American Airlines passenger plane collided with a military Black Hawk helicopter while attempting to land at the Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. Both aircrafts plunged into the nearby Potomac River resulting in the deaths of 64 onboard the passenger plane and three onboard the military helicopter. Last week, an air ambulance jet enroute to Mexico crashed in Philadelphia shortly after taking off—resulting in the deaths of the six people onboard the plane and one person on the ground. Earlier this week, a Japan Airlines plane clipped the tail of a parked Delta Airlines jet while taxiing at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. No injuries were reported on either aircraft.
Rescue crews searching for overdue Bering Air plane with 10 aboard (Anchorage Daily News)