The wreckage of a small commuter plane missing in Alaska has been found, Coast Guard officials said Friday. All 10 people aboard the plane — nine passengers and a pilot — are dead, according to media reports.
Coast Guard spokesperson Mike Salerno said rescuers saw the crash from their helicopter as they flew over the Cessna 208 Caravan’s last known location. Two rescue swimmers were lowered to investigate the scene, Salerno said.
Several groups were involved in the search for the plane, including the Alaska State Troopers, the U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska Army National Guard and local search teams.
Authorities said a Jayhawk helicopter was brought in Friday morning to help with the search.
The FBI provided technical assistance, including cellphone analysis, to help locate the aircraft.
The Bering Air flight was traveling in western Alaska, just south of the Arctic Circle, from Unalakleet to Nome. Alaska State Troopers said they were notified Thursday at 4 p.m. about the missing plane.
The U.S. Coast Guard said on X the flight’s last known position was 19 kilometers offshore.
Early Friday, the Nome fire department posted on X that it was conducting a ground search, but weather and visibility conditions were hampering the department's air search. The department urged people not to form their own search parties because of hazardous weather conditions in the region, which is prone to sudden snow squalls and high winds.
Airplanes are often the only method of transportation between rural Alaskan villages.
Nome is well-known as the last stop in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
This is the third major U.S. aviation incident in recent days. On Jan. 29, a commercial airliner and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport outside Washington. Two days later, a medical transport plane crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood shortly after takeoff, killing six people onboard and another person on the street.
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