A search is underway for a Bering Air plane with 10 aboard that departed Unalakleet Thursday and failed to arrive in Nome, officials said.
Flight records indicate that Bering Air flight 445, a Cessna Caravan, was flying at around 3,400 feet when it stopped transmitting its location at 3:18 p.m. It was scheduled to arrive in Nome about 10 minutes later.
Nome’s fire chief, Jim West Jr., said in an interview Thursday night that the pilot had planned to stay in a holding pattern over Cape Nome until the runway cleared.
Alaska State Troopers say nine passengers and one pilot were aboard the Caravan, a mainstay in Bering Air’s fleet that can seat up to 11.
Volunteer crews from Nome and White Mountain have been searching by snowmachine for signs of the plane. Danielle Sem, a spokesperson for the Nome Volunteer Fire Department, said the initial effort was a ground-only search “because of the weather and icing.” At the time of the plane’s disappearance, the National Weather Service reported visibility of just one mile in Nome with light snow falling.
West said a Bering Air helicopter tried to search for the plane but turned around near Cape Nome, citing high winds and low visibility. Sem confirmed that a Coast Guard HC-130J and air support from Elmendorf Air Force base would join the search.
West said the city had provided a grader to plow 16 miles of road to the east of Nome for a staging area. While finding the plane is the first priority, he said windy weather and deep snow would make the work difficult.
“The next goal is, how do we get out there to get to them? Right? That's going to be the challenge,” West said.
The search area includes the land east of Nome, where an occasional grove of willows breaks up the treeless tundra, and the Bering Sea just off the coast. Satellite imagery confirmed the presence of sea ice extending a half mile from the shore.
Norton Sound Health Corporation announced Thursday evening it had set up a space for family members in its third floor conference room.
Sem praised the response from volunteers, who turned out in numbers to search for the plane at night, in 10-degree temperatures.
“When something happens here in small communities, in the small region that we live in, it hits home for everybody,” Sem said. “Because if you don't know them, somebody else knows them.”
A representative from Bering Air confirmed the flight number, departure time and the time of the plane’s disappearance, but declined to say more. Bering Air, based in Nome, is a major regional air carrier serving 32 communities along Alaska’s northwest coast.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
