A small commuter plane with 10 people on board that went missing near Alaska’s Nome, was located on Friday on sea ice and all people on board died. The Bering Air plane went off the radar while en route from Unalakleet to Nome.
According to the Associated Press (AP) report, Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard, said that rescuers were searching the aircraft’s last known location by helicopter when they spotted the wreckage. Two rescue swimmers were then lowered to investigate.
The plane’s splintered body and debris lying on the sea ice. This has been one of the deadliest in the state in the last 25 years.
As per the report, Nome Mayor John Handeland said: “Nome is a strong community, and in challenging times we come together and support each other. I expect the outpouring of support to continue in the coming days as we all work to recover from this tragic incident.”
The focus rapidly shifted to recovery operations due to the fast-changing weather conditions. Officials said that the challenges included bad weather that it expected in the next 18 hours and “young ice” that was slushy and unstable.
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The small turboprop Cessna Caravan plane was carrying nine passengers and one pilot. Search operations are being carried out by crews to get the last-known coordinates of the plane, news agency Reuters reported, citing Department of Public Safety’s website.
The Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at 2:37 pm, and officials lost contact with it less than an hour later, according to David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air. There was light snow and fog, with a temperature of minus 8.3 Celsius, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather in Alaska was not supporting the searches as there was light snow and freezing drizzle around the Nome Airport. The visibility was reduced to only half a mile at one point, with a forecast of gusty winds.
The Coast Guard said the aircraft went missing about 48 kilometres southeast of Nome.
The plane’s disappearance marks the third major US aviation incident in just eight days. On January 29, a commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near the nation’s capital, resulting in 67 fatalities. Two days later, on January 31, a medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia, killing all six people on board and one person on the ground.
