The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a search and rescue alert notice after a flight with 10 people onboard disappeared while flying in Alaska.
The disappearance marks the third major incident in U.S. aviation in eight days. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near the nation’s capital on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people onboard and another person on the ground.
So what do we know about the latest incident so far? Here's a breakdown:
When was the plane last seen?
Authorities were still working to determine its last known coordinates.
The Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., and officials lost contact with it less than an hour later, according to David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air. The aircraft was 12 miles offshore, the U.S. Coast Guard said. It was operating at its maximum passenger capacity, according to the airline’s description of the plane.
“Staff at Bering Air is working hard to gather details, get emergency assistance, search and rescue going,” Olson said.
U.S. & World
Unalakleet is a community of about 690 people in western Alaska, about 150 miles southeast of Nome and 395 miles northwest of Anchorage.
Where was the plane traveling?
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The Bering Air Caravan, a single-engine turboprop, was heading from Unalakleet to Nome on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot, according to Alaska's Department of Public Safety.
What airline was the plane flying for?
Bering Air serves 32 villages in western Alaska from hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. Most destinations receive twice-daily scheduled flights Monday through Saturday.
Where do rescue efforts stand?
The Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement on social media that ground crews were searching across part of Alaska’s western coast, from Nome to Topkok.
“Due to weather and visibility, we are limited on air search at the current time,” it said. People were told not to form their own search parties because the weather was too dangerous.
In an update early Friday, the department said that “crews are still searching on the ground, canvassing as much area as possible,” but that “we do not have any updated information on the location of the missing aircraft.”
A U.S. Coast Guard airplane crew was expected to search the missing aircraft's last known position. The National Guard and troopers were also helping with the search, the fire department said.
Alaska's U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, issued statements about the missing plane on X, saying their thoughts and prayers are with the passengers, their families, rescuers and the Nome community. U.S. Rep. Nicholas Begich posted on X that he was ready to assist the community of Nome and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy “ in any way we can.”
What did the FAA say?
The FAA issued a Search and Rescue Alert Notice around 3:20 p.m. local time Thursday.
"The flight disappeared while flying from Unalakleet Airport to Nome Airport in Alaska. There were 10 people on board. Contact the U.S. Coast Guard for updates on the search," the FAA's initial statement read.
What else to know
Airplanes are often the only option for travel of any distance in rural Alaska, particularly in winter.
It was 17 degrees in Unalakleet around takeoff, according to the National Weather Service. There was light snow falling and fog.
The names of the people onboard weren't yet being released.
Nome, a Gold Rush town, is just south of the Arctic Circle and is known as the ending point of the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
