Missing plane with 10 aboard found crashed in Alaska, with no survivors

The regional airline flight that disappeared in Alaska Thursday has been found and all 10 people who were aboard are dead, the US Coast Guard said Friday.

The tiny commuter aircraft was discovered Friday approximately 34 miles southeast of Nome, according to the USCG.

The plane's wreckage was discovered about 34 miles southeast of Nome, with three individuals dead inside, according to the marine military division.

Seven others who were on the plane “are believed to be inside the aircraft but are currently inaccessible due to the condition of the plane,” the Coast Guard said in an update on X. "Our heartfelt condolences are with those affected by this tragic incident."

The Bering Air Cessna Caravan took off Thursday from Unalakleet, on the east shore of Norton Sound in western Alaska, and was flying approximately 140 miles to Nome, according to authorities.

There were nine passengers and one pilot onboard.

Radar analysis showed that around 3:18 p.m. Thursday “this aircraft experienced some kind of event which caused them to experience a rapid loss in elevation and a rapid loss in speed,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble said at a news briefing earlier Friday.

The hunt for the missing jet was hampered by the fact that it had not reported its whereabouts via an emergency transmitter, authorities added.

Authorities said that searchers had combed the snowy land in the Nome region as well as the sea ice offshore. Poor weather conditions hampered aviation searches Thursday, and early searches by Coast Guard and US aviation Force C-130 personnel yielded no results, the Nome Volunteer Fire Department announced Friday morning.

All relatives of passengers on the missing airplane "have been notified," the fire service stated Friday, without providing any details; no identities have been disclosed. Lt. Ben Endres of Alaska State Troopers confirmed during the news conference that all of the passengers on the plane were adults.

“Please keep families in your thoughts at this time,” the fire department said.

The Nome Volunteer Fire Department said its search and rescue team was preparing for the recovery attempt, with help from the Alaska National Guard.

The National Transportation Safety Board says it is forming a team to examine the tragedy.

Nome and Unalakleet are not served by the state's roadway system, therefore air, boat, snowmobile, and trails are the primary modes of transportation between the two.