Rescuers in Alaska continued to scour the Seward Peninsula on Friday, desperately searching for a small plane carrying 10 people that suffered a "rapid loss in elevation" and speed on its way to Nome, officials said.
The Bering Air Caravan flight, from Unalakleet to Nome, was reported overdue to Alaska State Troopers at 4 p.m. Thursday, the law enforcement agency said.
Nine passengers and a pilot were on board, officials said.
Radar analysis showed that around 3:20 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," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble.
"What that event is, I can’t speculate," McIntyre-Coble continued, "so we assume that this is a search and rescue case where assistance was going to be immediately necessary."
An "item of interest" has been "identified by another aircraft" in this search, McIntyre-Coble said, adding he couldn't be more specific about what it could be.
The FBI is also assisting in this search, according to the Nome Volunteer Fire Department.
"We have a ground crew heading down the coast to cover more ground inland and along the coast," according to Nome firefighters. "The FBI is coming in to Nome to try and locate the group through cell phone tracking."
Bering Air Director of Operations David Olson said the flight took off from Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., NBC affiliate KTUU of Anchorage reported.
The Coast Guard in Alaska said on X that the plane was 12 miles offshore going from Unalakleet to Nome when its position was lost.
White Mountain Fire Chief Jack Adams told KTUU that the plane disappeared from radar along the coast of Nome to Topkok and that crews were searching a 30-mile stretch.
"We’re hoping [the plane] is on land, being in the water would be the worst-case scenario,” Adams told the station, noting there is sea ice in the water.
Unalakleet is a small coastal community on the western coast of Alaska off Norton Sound, and Nome is around 141 miles to the northwest.
