Rescuers are searching for missing aircraft with 10 people in Alaska | Alaska

Rescuers on Friday searched for any sign of a plane that disappeared while carrying 10 people over Alaska’s Norton sound south of the Arctic circle.

Bering Air Caravan, a single -engine Turboprop, was on its way from Unalakleet to Nome on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot, according to the Alaska’s Department of Public Safety. Authorities were working to determine its last known coordinates.

Unalakleet is a society of approx. 690 people in western Alaska, approx. 150 miles (about 240 km) southeast of Nome and 395 miles (about 640 km) north-west of Anchorage.

The disappearance marks the third major event in American aviation in eight days. A commercial jetlin and an army helicopter collided near the country’s capital on January 29, killing 67 people. A medical transport aircraft crashed into Philadelphia on January 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground.

Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at. The plane was 12 miles (19 km) offshore, the US Coast Guard said. It worked with its maximum passenger capacity according to the airline’s description of the aircraft.

“Staff at Bering Air work hard to collect details, get relief, search and rescue,” Olson said.

Bering Air serves 32 villages in western Alaska from Hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. Most destinations receive scheduled flights twice daily Monday to Saturday.

Aircraft is often the only option for traveling of any distance in the rural Alaska, especially in winter.

Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement on social media that the land crews searched across the coast, from Nome to Top Chef.

“Due to weather and visibility, we are limited to air search at the current time,” it said. People were told not to form their own search parties because the weather was too dangerous.

In an update early on Friday, the department said: “Crews are still searching on the ground and canvassing as much area as possible,” but “We do not have any updated information about the location of the missing aircraft.”

A US Coast Guard Airplane crew was expected to search for the missing aircraft’s last known position. The National Guard and Trooper also helped with the search, the fire department said.

It was 17F (-8.3c) in Unalakleet around the start, according to the National Weather Service. Slightly snow and fog fell.

The names of the people on board were not yet released.

NomeA Gold Rush town, is located just south of the Arctic circle and is known as the end point of the 1,000 km (1,610 km) Iditarod sled dog race.