Anchorage, Alaska – Rescue teams in Alaska are racing against time to locate a missing small commercial plane that disappeared with 10 people on board, authorities confirmed Friday.
The Bering Air Caravan, carrying nine passengers and one pilot, was reported overdue after departing from Unalakleet for Nome on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. Alaska Standard Time (0100 GMT), according to the Alaska State Police. The two cities, separated by approximately 146 miles (235 kilometers) across Norton Sound, are located along the state’s west coast.
Nome’s volunteer fire department stated that the pilot had informed Anchorage air traffic control of plans to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway to be cleared. However, the aircraft vanished shortly thereafter.
Search efforts intensified Friday, with the U.S. Coast Guard deploying a C-130 aircraft to assist ground crews in combing the region for signs of the missing plane. Officials confirmed that the aircraft’s last known position, recorded on FlightRadar24, placed it over open water around 40 minutes after takeoff.
“We do not have any updated information on the location of the missing aircraft,” Nome’s fire department said in a Facebook update. “Crews are still searching on the ground, canvassing as much area as possible.”
This incident is the latest in a string of recent aviation tragedies in the United States. On January 30, a catastrophic midair collision between a passenger jet and a U.S. Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., claimed 67 lives. Just days later, a medical transport plane crashed in a densely populated Philadelphia neighborhood, resulting in seven fatalities and injuring 19 others.
Authorities continue to urge anyone with information about the missing Alaska flight to come forward as rescue operations press on.
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