Authorities have confirmed that a plane with ten people on board has gone missing in Alaska.
The Bering Air Caravan flight, which was en route from Unalakleet to Nome, was reported overdue around 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, February 6, according to a statement from the Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS).
The aircraft was carrying nine passengers and a pilot. It had taken off from Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., as stated by Bering Air’s Director of Operations, David Olson, in a report to local news outlet KTUU.
The Nome Volunteer Fire Department acknowledged the situation in a Facebook post, stating, “We are actively responding to a report of a missing Bering Air caravan.”
Efforts to locate the plane were underway, with ground searches being conducted from Nome and White Mountain. The department noted that difficult weather conditions were limiting aerial search efforts at the time. Authorities, including the National Guard, Coast Guard, and state troopers, had been notified and were assisting in the search. Additionally, the Norton Sound Health Corporation was on standby to provide support.
The department urged the public to keep those on board in their thoughts while discouraging independent search efforts due to safety concerns. Families seeking support were advised to reach out to the Norton Sound Health Corporation.
According to the department, the plane’s pilot had informed Anchorage Air Traffic Control of plans to enter a holding pattern while waiting for runway clearance. Meanwhile, a C-130 Coast Guard aircraft was scheduled to survey the area.
Providing further updates, the fire department stated that the C-130 had reached Nome but would remain airborne, flying a grid search over the shoreline and surrounding waters. Equipped with advanced search-and-rescue technology, the aircraft was capable of detecting objects and individuals even in low-visibility conditions.
A post from the U.S. Coast Guard’s Alaska region on X (formerly Twitter) indicated that the aircraft was approximately 12 miles offshore during its flight from Unalakleet to Nome when it lost contact.
Flightradar24, a live flight-tracking service, reported that the plane’s last recorded position was at an altitude of 5,300 feet around 3:16 p.m. The platform noted that the typical duration of the flight is about 47 minutes.
White Mountain Fire Chief Jack Adams told KTUU’s Alaska’s News Source that the aircraft had vanished from radar somewhere along the coastline between Nome and Topkok, prompting a search across an estimated 30-mile area.
“Our crews are prepared to search all night if necessary,” Adams said. “They’ll keep going until they locate the plane or someone else finds it. If no signs are discovered, we’ll likely organize additional search teams.”
Adams noted that the ice conditions in the area appeared “jumbled” and expressed hope that the plane had landed on solid ground rather than in the water, which would be the worst-case scenario.
He also pointed out that visibility conditions were extremely poor, with all aircraft grounded. “Right now, visibility is at zero—you can’t see anything from the air or the ground,” he explained. “Searching in complete darkness with no visibility makes this an incredibly difficult mission.”
Efforts to obtain further information from Bering Air and the Alaska Department of Public Safety were underway, but responses had not yet been received at the time of reporting.
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