A flight with 10 people on board has vanished over Alaska, sparking a frantic search.
The Bering Air Caravan plane was reported ‘overdue’ when it failed to arrive in Nome about 4pm local time.
It was traveling from Unalakleet with nine passengers and one pilot on board.
Crews are frantically working to establish the plane’s last coordinates, but weather conditions in the area are so poor that it has limited the ability to launch an air search.
A Coast Guard plane equipped with specialized equipment that allows it to ‘locate objects and people through no visibility conditions’ has arrived in the area to conduct a ‘grid pattern search’ over the water and shoreline.
‘We are currently responding to a report of a missing Bering Air caravan,’ the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement.
‘We are doing an active ground search from Nome and from White Mountain. Due to weather and visibility, we are limited on air search at the current time.
‘National Guard and Coast Guard and Troopers have been notified and are active in the search. Norton Sound Health Corporation is standing by.’
The Bering Air plane was reported ‘overdue’ when it failed to arrive in Nome about 4pm local time
The Bering Air plane was reported ‘overdue’ when it failed to arrive in Noam about 4pm local time
Authorities have had to warn well-intentioned members of the public to avoid conducting any search parties due to the extreme conditions.
‘We ask the public to please think of those who may be missing at this time, but due to weather and safety concerns please do not form individual search parties,’ the department said.
‘Families are encouraged to seek support at Norton Sound Health Corporation.’
Authorities said their last known contact with the pilot was when he told Anchorage Air Traffic Control that he intended to ‘enter a holding pattern’ as he waited for the runway to be cleared.
It is understood the aircraft was 12 miles off shore when contact was lost.
According to data from FlightRadar, the plane – a Cessna 208B – was last seen over the Norton Sound at 3.16pm.
Unalakleet is a small coastal region at the western end of Alaska.
Norton Sound Health Corporation has issued a statement acknowledging it is ‘standing ready to respond to a community medical emergency’ as crews desperately battle sleet and rain to find the plane.
The rural town of Nome in Alaska is waiting for updates on the missing plane
A family center has been set up at Norton Sound Regional Hospital where loved ones of the passengers can gather and wait for news updates.
Alaskan Senator Dan Sullivan issued a statement on Thursday night, writing on Facebook: ‘We are hearing reports of a possible missing plane en route to Nome.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the passengers, their families and the rescue crew.’
The incident comes less than two weeks after 67 people died when an American Airlines jet collided with a Black Hawk Army helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington DC.
There were no survivors on either flight, and all bodies have now been retrieved from the water as an investigation into the tragedy continues.
This is a breaking news story. More to come.