Search in progress for overdue nome-tied aircraft by 10 on board

A search is underway after a Bering Air aircraft with 10 aboard leaving Unalakleet on Thursday and did not arrive at Nome, officials said.

Flight -Posts show This Bering Air Flight 445, a Cessna Camping car, flew by 3,400 feet as it stopped transferring its location around 10 pm. 15.20, it was scheduled to arrive at Nome about 10 minutes later.

Nome’s fire manager Jim West Jr. said in an interview on Thursday night that the pilot had planned to stay in a holding pattern over Cape Nome until the runway was cleared.

Alaska State Troopers say Nine passengers and a pilot were aboard the caravan, a carrying beam in Bering Air’s fleet that can seat up to 11.

Volunteer crews from Nome and White Mountain have searched by Snowmachine after signs of the aircraft. Danielle Sem, a spokesman for Nome Volunteer Fire Department, said the original effort was a earth-only search “because of the weather and glaze.” At the time of aircraft’s disappearance National Weather Service Reported visibility of only a mile in nome with light snow falling.

West said a Bering Air helicopter was trying to search for the plane, but turned around near Cape Nome with reference to high wind and low visibility. Sem confirmed that a coastal guard HC-130J and air support from Elmendorf Air Force Base would participate in the search.

West said the city had delivered a grade level to plow 16 miles of the road east of Nome to a staging area. While finding the aircraft 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 will be the challenge, ”West said.

The search area includes the country east of Nome, where an occasional Lund of Arrow breaks the truly tundra up and the Bering Sea right on the coast. Satellite photos confirmed The presence of sea ice that extends half a mile from the coast.

Norton Sound Health Corporation announced on Thursday night that it had set up a space for family members in his conference room on the third floor.

Sem praised the answer from volunteers who appeared in effect 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 it home for everyone,” said Sem. “Because if you don’t know them, another knows them.”

A representative from Bering Air confirmed flight number, departure time and the time of the aircraft’s disappearance, but refused to say more. Bering Air, based in Nome, is an important regional carrier serving 32 communities along the northwest coast of Alaska.

This is an evolving story. Check back for updates.

Correction: An earlier version of this story mistakenly the time when the aircraft was scheduled to land in Nome and its height as it stopped transferring its location.