Missing commuter plane found crashed on Alaska sea ice and all 10 aboard are dead

Authorities reported all ten persons on board a small commuter plane were killed after it crashed in western Alaska on its way to the hub village of Nome. The plane was found on sea ice on Friday. It was one of the state’s deadliest crashes in the previous 25 years. According to U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Mike Salerno, the debris was discovered while rescuers were using a helicopter to look for the aircraft’s last known location. To look into it, two rescue swimmers were dropped. The wreckage and shattered body of the plane were seen on the sea ice in a Coast Guard photo. Two people circled the wreckage wearing brightly colored emergency gear.  During a nighttime press conference, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski stated, “It’s difficult to accept the reality of our loss.”

“Nome is a solid community that pulls together to assist one another throughout trying times. As we all attempt to get past this terrible event, I anticipate that the outpouring of support will continue in the days ahead,” Handeland stated. Later in the evening, a prayer service was scheduled. Conditions were changing so quickly that attention was already turning to a recovery operation. Officials listed the difficulties, which included “young ice” that was unstable and mushy and inclement weather predicted within the next eighteen hours. Jim West, the head of the Nome Volunteer Fire Department, stated, “They are on the ice as we speak.” Because of the ever-changing situations, we must act as quickly and safely as possible.

According to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety, the Bering Air single-engine turboprop aircraft was carrying nine passengers and a pilot on Thursday afternoon as it left Unalakleet. As per the airline’s description, the aircraft was carrying as many passengers as possible. The Bering Air director of operations, David Olson, said officials lost communication with the Cessna Caravan less than an hour after it departed Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m. The temperature was 17 degrees (minus 8.3 Celsius), with mild fog and snow, the National Weather Service said.

The Coast Guard reported that the plane vanished approximately 30 miles (48 kilometers) to the southeast of Nome. According to U.S. Civil Air Patrol radar forensic data, the plane experienced “some kind of event which caused them to experience a rapid loss in elevation and a rapid loss in speed” at approximately 3:18 p.m., according to Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble. “I can’t speculate as to what that event is.” “I was not aware of any distress signals from the aircraft,” McIntyre-Coble stated. An emergency locating transmitter is carried by airplanes. The gadget notifies the Coast Guard that an aircraft might be in difficulty by sending a signal to a satellite if it comes into contact with seawater. He stated the Coast Guard did not receive any such signals.

Lt. Ben Endres of the Alaska State Troopers claimed that all ten passengers were adults and that the aircraft was a routine commuter excursion. According to Alaska’s News Source, two of the crash victims were traveling for a non-profit tribal health organization. The names of the other individuals are still under wraps. The search effort was aided by local, state, and federal agencies that combed miles of icy tundra and areas of ice-dotted seas. Nine individuals from different states were being sent to the scene by the National Transportation Safety Board. Because Alaska’s terrain is so vast and its infrastructure is so inadequate, flying is a necessary form of transportation there. Traveling by small plane is frequent because most communities are not connected to the developed road system that serves the most populous portion of the state.

Goods are transported to many communities by barge or by air, and some high school teams fly to athletic competitions against rival high schools. In eight days, the plane crash is the third significant aviation accident in the United States. On January 29, 67 persons were killed when an Army helicopter and a commercial airliner crashed close to the country’s capital. On January 31, six passengers and one person on the ground perished in a medical transport plane crash in Philadelphia. With hubs in Nome, Kotzebue, and Unalakleet, Bering Air provides service to 32 settlements in western Alaska. The majority of destinations have scheduled flights twice a day, Monday through Saturday.

About 690 people live in the town of Unalakleet, which is located 395 miles (about 640 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage and 150 miles (about 240 kilometers) southeast of Nome. The settlement is located on the Iditarod track, which is the path taken by mushers and their teams as they traverse the icy Norton Sound during the most well-known sled dog race in the world. Situated just south of the Arctic Circle, Nome is a Gold Rush town that serves as the terminus of the 1,610-kilometer (1,610-mile) Iditarod. The city announced that prayer vigils for the passengers, loved ones, and search personnel would take place on Friday.