Norton Sound, Alaska, has airplanes matching aircraft that went missing while carrying 10 people to the Coast Guard Posted on social media Friday afternoon. Three people found inside were reported dead.
The plane was found about 34 miles (54km) southeast of Gnome, the Coast Guard said.
Rescuers were looking for aircraft that had experienced rapid losses in elevation and speed before the signal was lost, the Coast Guard said on Friday afternoon that it cited forensic data from radar provided by civil aviation patrols. Ta.
The Bering Air Caravan, a single-engine turboprop, was heading from the Arlanklate to the Gnome Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and pilots, according to the Alaska Public Safety Agency. Authorities were working on determining its last known coordinates.
Dan Sullivan, one of the U.S. Senators in Alaska, said he spoke on the phone with Shawn Duffy, the new Trump administration's Secretary of Transport. [Department of Transportation] And FAA [Federal Aviation Authority] As the search continues.”
Unalakleet is a community of approximately 690 people in western Alaska, about 150 miles (240 km) southeast of Nome and 395 miles northwest of Anchorage.
This disappearance marks the third major incident on US Airlines in eight days. On January 29, a commercial jet liner and an army helicopter collided near the country's capital, killing 67 people. On January 31st, a medical transport crashed in Philadelphia, killing six people on board and another person on the ground.
According to David Olson, Beringair's operations director, Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at 2:37pm, and authorities lost contact within an hour. The aircraft was 12 miles offshore, the U.S. Coast Guard said. According to the airline's description, it was operating at the maximum passenger capacity.
The plane was last seen on Norton Sound around 3:16pm, according to flight tracker data. Flightradar 24.
“Bering Air staff is working hard to gather details, receive emergency assistance and to help search and rescue progress,” Olson said.
Bering Air serves 32 villages in western Alaska from the Hubs of Norme, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. Most destinations will receive scheduled flights twice a day, Monday through Saturday.
Airplanes are often the only option to travel distances in rural Alaska, especially in winter.
The Norm Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement on social media that the ground crew is searching across the coast, from Norm to Topcok.
“Weather and visibility limit air searches at this point,” he said. The area was prone to sudden snow squalls and strong winds in the winter, and the weather was so dangerous that people were told not to form their own search parties.
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The Alaska Air National Guard searched by an HC-130 plane on Thursday night, but the helicopter had to return due to bad weather before reaching the search area.
However, security guards were approved to fly helicopters Friday morning, and the Coast Guard brought in an additional C-130 to assist, the Norm Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement posted on social media. Ta. A crew on the ground headed inland along the coast.
According to the National Weather Service, it was 17F (-8.3c) at Unalakleet around takeoff. Weather conditions included fog, light snow and frozen drizzle on Thursday evening. Visibility dropped to 0.5 miles at one point, with wind gust forecasts of up to 35 mph overnight.
The names of the people on board had not been released yet.
GnomeGold Rush Town is located just south of the Arctic Circle and is known as the ending point for the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Thread Dog Race.
The Associated Press contributed Report
