A small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on its way to the hub community of Nome was located on sea ice on Friday and all 10 people on board died, authorities said.
Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard, said rescuers were searching the aircraft’s last known location by helicopter when they spotted the wreckage. They lowered two rescue swimmers to investigate.
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 2.37pm, and officials lost contact with it less than an hour later, David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air, has said. There was light snow and fog, with a temperature of 17 degrees (minus 8.3C), according to the National Weather Service.
Officials lost contact with the plane less than an hour later. The Coast Guard said the plane went missing about 30 miles (48 kilometres) southeast of Nome. The aircraft was 12 miles (19 kilometres) 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 US Civil Air Patrol indicated that about 3.18pm on Thursday, 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 Lieutenant Commander Benjamin McIntyre-Coble said.
“What that event is, I can’t speculate to.”
He 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 Lieutenant Ben Endres of the Alaska State Troopers.
The plane’s disappearance marks the third major US aviation mishap in eight days. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near the nation’s capital on January 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on January 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, and residents were told not to form their own search parties because the weather was too dangerous.
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.
Alaska’s US senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, issued statements saying their thoughts and prayers were with the passengers, their families, rescuers and the Nome community.
US representative Nick Begich said on the social platform X that he was ready to assist Nome and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy “in any way we can”.
