A search is currently underway in western Alaska for a plane carrying 10 people that went missing Thursday afternoon while flying over Norton Sound, south of the Arctic Circle, reports AP.
The Bering Air Caravan, which was en route from Unalakleet to Nome with nine passengers and a pilot, lost contact with authorities shortly after takeoff.
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The Alaska Department of Public Safety is working to determine the aircraft’s last known coordinates.
Unalakleet is a small community of around 690 people located 150 miles (240 km) southeast of Nome and 395 miles (640 km) northwest of Anchorage.
This incident is the third significant aviation tragedy in the United States in just eight days. On January 29, a commercial jetliner collided with an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., killing 67 people. Two days later, on January 31, a medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia, resulting in six deaths.
The Cessna Caravan departed Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., and officials lost communication with the plane less than an hour later, according to David Olson, Bering Air's director of operations. The aircraft was approximately 12 miles (19 km) offshore at the time, the U.S. Coast Guard reported.
Bering Air, which operates flights to 32 villages in western Alaska, is actively gathering information and coordinating search and rescue efforts. Airplanes are often the primary mode of transportation in rural Alaska, especially during winter months.
Ground crews from the Nome Volunteer Fire Department are conducting a search along the coastline from Nome to Topkok, though weather conditions are limiting air searches. Officials have warned the public not to form their own search parties due to the dangerous weather.
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A U.S. Coast Guard aircraft is expected to search the last known location of the missing plane. The National Guard and state troopers are also assisting with the search.
The temperature in Unalakleet was about 17°F (-8.3°C) at the time of takeoff, with light snow and fog in the area.
The names of those on board the aircraft have not been released.
Nome, a historic Gold Rush town located just south of the Arctic Circle, is famous as the endpoint of the 1,000-mile (1,610 km) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.