Crews search for missing Alaska plane with 10 onboard

A search is underway in Alaska after an aircraft carrying ten people failed to arrive in Nome as scheduled, according to officials.

At 4 p.m. local time, Alaska State Troopers received a complaint that the Bering Air Caravan flight from Unalakleet to Nome was overdue.

Officials say there were nine passengers and a pilot on board.

"The aircraft was 12 miles offshore transiting from Unalakleet to Nome when its position was lost," the U.S. Coast Guard Alaska maritime region said on X.

The Coast Guard has been alerted, and an intensive ground search is underway, according to a social media message from the Nome Volunteer Fire Department. According to the report, weather conditions hindered flight operations on Thursday afternoon.

A C-130 Coast Guard jet equipped to identify persons and objects in low visibility will fly a grid pattern over the region, the fire department stated in an update about 8 p.m. Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage will also provide flight assistance, according to the fire department.

“Ground crews have covered ground all along the coast from Nome to Topkok,” the fire department said. The plane’s exact location is still unknown, and “we continue to expand search efforts to as many avenues as possible until the plane is located.”

Bering Air serves 32 towns in Western Alaska from Nome, Kotzebue, and Unalakleet. Most locations have twice-daily scheduled flights Monday through Saturday.

According to the fire department, the National Guard, Coast Guard, and troopers were all involved in the search.

The names of the persons on board had not yet been revealed.

White Mountain Fire Chief Jack Adams told KTUU that the jet vanished from radar from the coast of Nome to Topkok, and personnel were scouring a 30-mile region.

"We’re hoping [the plane] is on land, being in the water would be the worst-case scenario,” Adams told the station, noting there is sea ice in the water.

Unalakleet is a tiny coastal village on Alaska's western coast near Norton Sound, and Nome is approximately 141 miles to the northwest.