A massive search is ongoing Friday 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 208B Grand 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. Nine passengers and one pilot were onboard, according to Alaska State Troopers.
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. At the time of the plane’s disappearance, the National Weather Service reported visibility of just one mile in Nome, with light snow falling.
No signs of the aircraft overnight
The U.S. Coast Guard is leading search efforts Friday morning, with support from troopers, the Alaska National Guard, the FBI and local volunteers. The Coast Guard reported that the plane was 12 miles offshore when its position was lost.The search by air Thursday night was mostly focused over the water and infrared imagery returned no strong indicators of the plane’s location. The plane has not sent any alerts via its emergency locator transmitter, according to the Nome Volunteer Fire Department.
The department said Friday morning that weather for the next 24 hours looked stable for continuing the search by air, and local rescue groups would continue searching by snowmachine. A base with supplies and fuel has been established 16 miles east of town.
West said that overnight aerial surveys found no signs of the aircraft. As of Friday morning, two Bering Air King Airs, a Black Hawk helicopter and a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter were among the aircraft involved in the search. The Coast Guard was also planning to drop a buoy to track ice movement in the area, firefighters said.
All commercial Bering Air flights for Friday have been grounded.
Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska chief, said an investigator traveled to Nome on Friday morning, with a full team en route. The FBI’s Anchorage office said it also sent a team to provide “cellular analysis,” which firefighters said might help locate the flight through signals from the cellphones on board.
All families of passengers on the missing flight have been notified, the local fire department said. “Please keep families in your thoughts at this time,” said the department’s online update.
Norton Sound Health Corporation announced Thursday evening it had set up a space for family members in its third floor conference room.
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.
Weather hampers early air search
National Weather Service meteorologist Jonathan Chriest said that the Nome area saw snowy conditions and visibility between 1 and 3 miles for most of Thursday. Conditions cleared slightly between 2 and 4 p.m, but after that, light freezing drizzle returned and transitioned back to snow later in the evening.
“There was a period of good visibility around 3 p.m., up to 10 miles,” Chriest said. “Then visibility later on in the afternoon diminished back down to near a mile, with a short period of visibility at half a mile.”
Overnight into Friday, volunteer crews from Nome and White Mountain searched 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.”
West said a Bering Air helicopter tried to search for the plane Thursday but turned around near Cape Nome, citing high winds and low visibility.
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 on Thursday night.
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.
“It hits home for everyone”
Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Alaska’s congressional delegation offered prayers for those aboard the missing plane via social media Friday.
“Rose and I are heartbroken by the disappearance of the Bering Air flight over Norton Sound,” Dunleavy said. “Our prayers are with the passengers, the pilot, and their loved ones during this difficult time.”
“Our prayers are with all those on the plane missing out of western Alaska, the Bering Air family, and the entire community of Nome,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Sen. Dan Sullivan said Friday morning that he had asked NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy to visit Alaska – “and to her credit, she’s doing that this weekend.”
“My team and I stand ready to assist the community of Nome and (Gov. Dunleavy) in any way we can,” said Rep. Nick Begich.
The state Senate held a moment of silence in Juneau to mark word of the missing plane. State Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome, posted links to news updates about the search on his Facebook page.
“Many thanks for keeping those on board and their families in your prayers,” Foster said.
Sem praised the response from local volunteers, who turned out in force Thursday 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.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the time the plane was scheduled to land in Nome and its altitude when it stopped transmitting its location.
