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Alaska Plane 10 Dead: Aircraft Found With No Survivor. The Cessna aircraft, operated by Bering Air and carrying nine passengers and a pilot that disappeared Thursday has been found with the 10 dead leaving no survivors.
Alaska Plane 10 Dead: Aircraft Found With No Survivors
The USCG Alaska said that they had found “an aircraft matching the description of the missing plane” in a post on its X page. According to them, the plane was discovered around 34 miles southeast of Nome, Alaska.
The US Coast Guard said on Friday that the 10 people on board the regional airline flight that vanished in Alaska on Thursday have been located and are dead.
According to the USCG, the small commuter plane was discovered Friday approximately 34 miles southeast of Nome.
Three victims were found inside the aircraft by two rescue swimmers, and the remaining seven “are believed to be inside the wreckage,” but they are now inaccessible, USCG Lt. Commander Mike Salerno told CNN.
While traveling from Unalakleet to Nome, two cities in western Alaska divided by the Norton Sound inlet, the Bering Air-operated Cessna plane carrying nine passengers and a pilot vanished Thursday afternoon, according to the Alaska State Troopers. The Coast Guard reported that it lost position around 12 miles offshore.
According to Coast Guard Lt. Commander Benjamin McIntyre-Coble, the plane “had some sort of event which caused them to experience a rapid loss in elevation and a rapid loss in speed” about 3:18 p.m. local time on Thursday.
The Coast Guard posted a picture of the plane in a snowy area, shattered into bits. The USCG posted on X, “Our thoughts are with those affected by this tragic incident.”
According to officials, the missing plane had not used an emergency transmitter to notify its location, which had hindered the hunt for the aircraft.
Authorities have reported that searchers have combed the sea ice offshore and the snowy land in the Nome vicinity. The Coast Guard and US Air Force C-130 personnel conducted preliminary search flights Thursday but were unsuccessful due to poor weather conditions, the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said Friday morning.
In addition to local assistance from the FAA’s aviation safety inspectors, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the agency “is providing an investigator from the Aviation Safety Office of Accident and Prevention.”
In a statement posted on X, Duffy stated, “This evening, say a prayer for the ten souls who lost their lives on the Bering Air flight in Alaska.”
During a press briefing on Friday prior to the announcement that a plane had been located, McIntyre-Coble stated that an aircraft involved in the search had discovered “some sort of item of interest” and that the Coast Guard was en route to its location.
Searchers had improved visibility on Friday morning: at around 10 a.m., the sky was clear at Nome Airport, and the temperature was about 5 degrees. According to the fire department, another Coast Guard C-130 landed in Nome to help with the search, and the National Guard and Coast Guard deployed helicopter search teams to the endeavor Friday morning.
The fire department stated Friday that all families of the passengers on the missing flight “have been notified,” without providing any details; no names have been made public. During the press briefing, Alaska State Trooper Lt. Ben Endres stated that all of the passengers on the aircraft were adults.
“At this time, please remember families,” the fire department said.
The tragedy occurs as investigators look into two deadly incidents that occurred last week: a January 31 crash of a medevac jet in Philadelphia that killed seven people, and a January 29 midair collision of a US military Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet near Washington, DC, that left 67 people dead. These incidents put US air safety under scrutiny.
According to the fire department on Friday, the aircraft failed to communicate using an emergency locator transmitter, which can transmit distress signals to aid in locating downed planes.
Each aircraft is equipped with an emergency locater transmitter, a device that, in the event that it comes into contact with seawater, transmits a signal to a satellite, which then notifies the Coast Guard if an aircraft is “in distress,” according to McIntyre-Coble.
“The US Coast Guard has not received any ELT notifications. “We’re not completely clear about why that has happened or why that hasn’t happened,” McIntyre-Coble said.
According to a bureau spokeswoman who talked to CNN, the FBI was providing technical assistance for the search, including efforts to geolocate the passengers’ cell phones. Employees at FBI field offices who have received specialized training in cellular telephone tower data analysis can help investigators determine a device’s last reported position.
Around 3:16 p.m., the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, the aircraft that went missing in Alaska, was last spotted over Norton Sound. FlightRadar 24 flight tracking data indicates Thursday. At that time, Nome Airport reported moderate snowfall and temperatures of about 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to the Nome Volunteer Fire Department, the pilot had informed air traffic control that he planned to go into a holding pattern while awaiting clearance of a runway.
Conditions at Nome Airport on Thursday night, hours after contact was lost, included freezing drizzle and light snow. Visibility was reduced to half a mile at one point, and nocturnal wind gusts of up to 35 mph were predicted.
CNN aviation analyst Miles O’Brien stated Friday morning that “the aircraft’s performance would degrade, and it could stall and crash if that bad weather coated the wings with ice.” “But searchers should have some hope because there are places where the ice (in the sea below) is actually thick enough to support the craft.”
Because of the weather and safety concerns, first responders advised the public not to organize their own search parties.
According to its website, Bering Air is headquartered in Nome and provides service to over 30 local villages.
According to the Associated Press, David Olson, director of operations at Bering Air, stated, “Staff at Bering Air is working hard to gather details, get emergency assistance, search and rescue going.” Bering Air, which has operated in Alaska since 1979, has been contacted by CNN for comment.
In order to cover the ground inland and along the shoreline, a fire department crew was also scheduled to travel down the coast on Friday morning, according to the department. According to the fire department, the Coast Guard intended to submerge a buoy in the water to track and observe ice movement in order to guide their search.
The Norton Sound Health Corp. was “standing ready to respond to a community medical emergency,” according to the statement, and hospitals were preparing in case they had to react. In addition, Norton Sound Regional Hospital established a family center where passengers’ loved ones may congregate while awaiting updates.
In an X post on Friday, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy stated that he and his spouse “are heartbroken by the loss of the 10 people on the Bering Air flight.”
The governor said, “We are praying for the families, friends, and communities who are grieving this tragedy.” “We express our gratitude to the search personnel for their diligent efforts in locating the aircraft. I kindly request that everyone in Alaska remember and pray for those impacted.
