Radar showed rapid descent before Bering Air Flight disappeared near Nome

Authorities said Friday that a Bering Air aircraft with 10 people on board suddenly fell before it disappeared on Thursday afternoon on a flight from Unalakleet to Nome.

The American Coast Guard said “a kind of item of interest” was discovered by search aircraft around noon Friday, but the identity of this object or status of any of the residents of the aircraft was not immediately clear.

Cessna Caravan, carrying nine passengers and a pilot, disappeared from contact less than an hour after starting right after 1 p.m. 14:30 Thursday, the aircraft’s last transponder -signal came on about 30 miles southeast of Nome, according to the US Coast Guard.

The flight path to Nome crosses Norton Sound, which was frozen, but with some open water.

Radar at that time showed that around 1 p.m. 15.18 Thursday, “This aircraft experienced some form of event, causing them to experience a rapid loss of height and a rapid loss in speed,” Coast Guard Lt. CMDR. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble said during a media briefing Friday. “What that event is, I can’t speculate.”

The agency began an immediate search and rescue response.

A sweeping air and soil search began on Thursday. Nome police asked for members of the community with boats to provide assistance. The FBI said it sent resources to Nome to try to find the missing people via mobile phone signal.

The caravan left Unalakleet at. 14:37, and officials lost contact with the less than an hour later, according to David Olson, Director of Operations for Bering Air. The flight path to Nome takes a plane over Norton Sound, which is iced over with an open water area. Thursday’s flight was a regularly scheduled commuter flight without children on board, Troopers said.

The plane was 12 miles offshore in the last known place, the coastguard said. It worked with its maximum passenger capacity according to the airline’s description of the aircraft.

The aircraft’s emergency lighthouse did not communicate a signal, according to a Nome Volunteer Four Department Update Friday morning.

“All passengers’ families on the lack of flight have been notified,” the update said. “Keep families in your thoughts at this time.”

The weather was “challenging” when the search began, with air temperatures in the area around 3 degrees and water temperatures in the tall 20s, McIntyre-Cloble said. The Nome area experienced freezing rain, light snow and fog on Thursday according to National Weather Service.

The weather is “looks stable” in the next 24 hours to continue the air searches, according to a Nome Fire Department update Midmorning Friday.

McIntyre-Coble described mixed ice conditions, not completely firm or completely broken.

On Thursday morning, an approx. 1- to 2-mile-covered lead half a mile to a mile offshore in Norton Sound, though it varied with wind and current, according to the University of Alaska Fairbank’s climate specialist Rick Thoman, who helps with search efforts. In addition, there was a higher concentration of ice “with moderate thickness with some rafting and cracking,” Thoman said Friday.

Bering Air canceled all flights Friday.

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

The missing aircraft marks the third major aviation event in the United States in just over a week. The Midair Collision of a commercial jet and a US army helicopter over the Potomac River killed 67 people on January 29. Six people on board and a person on the ground died when a medical transport aircraft crashed into Philadelphia on January 31.

Members of Alaska’s Congress Delegation – US Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and US Rep. Nick Begich III – Submitted messages about prayer and support late Thursday and early Friday.

A post Friday morning from Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he and his wife, Rose, were “The heart bridge of the disappearance of the Bering Air flight over Norton Sound. Our prayers are with the passengers, the pilot and their loved ones in this difficult time. “

Said Sullivan in a Separate post The Sean Duffy, the new US Transport Secretary, “is obliged to implement resources” from the US Ministry of Transport and Federal Aviation Administration as the search continues. Sullivan also said that NTSB chairman Jennifer Homendy plans to travel to Alaska over the weekend.

The city of Nome is planning Multifaith -Bunnet at. 13.00 and at. 19 Friday.

This is an evolving story and will be updated.