Missing Alaska airplane vanishes mid-air sparking search for survivors: Live updates
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An urgent search has been launched for a small Bering Air Caravan plane that vanished over Alaska overnight.
The plane was carrying 10 people on board, who were travelling to Nome from Unalakleet in western Alaska on Thursday night when their aircraft vanished off radars.
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.
The small plane was travelling to Nome from Unalakleet in western Alaska on Thursday night when it vanished off radars.
Exact coordinates for the aircraft are still being established, with the Coast Guard deployed to the area to specialized equipment that can ‘locate objects and people through no visibility conditions’, officials said.
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.
Alaska hospital prepares for casualties
The Norton Sound Health Corporation said it is ‘standing ready to respond to a community medical emergency’ amid the ongoing search.
‘A family center is accepting family members and loved ones in the Norton Sound Regional Hospital’s third-floor conference room,’ the institute, a small local hospital based in Nome, said on social media.
Authorities urge the public not to help search
Authorities have warned well-intentioned members of the piblic not to join in the search for the missing Bering aircraft due to severe weather 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 Nome Volunteer Fire Department said.
‘Families are encouraged to seek support at Norton Sound Health Corporation.’
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