Alaska missing plane latest: Bering Air jet with 10 on board vanishes mid-air, sparking search for survivors – UK Times

Alaska is by far the U.S. biggest state at 663,268 square miles – approximately three times the land area of France. It dwarfs Texas, the second-largest state, which spread cross almost 270,000 square miles.

For many of its 740,000 inhabitants – particularly those living in remote towns – planes aren’t just the preferred way to travel, they are the only way. A majority of the state is not accessible, by road.

It is particularly true for hard-to-reach native villages, especially in the Arctic and Southwest regions, and some coastal communities.

Along with traditional wheeled planes for landing on solid ground, in some instances, seaplanes are used to land on water and ski planes for snow.

Norton Sound Health Corporation, a local hospital based in Nome, said it is “standing ready to respond to a community medical emergency”.

“A family center is accepting family members and loved ones in the Norton Sound Regional Hospital’s third-floor conference room,” it added in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Bering Air was established in Nome, Alaska in September 1979.

When it commenced operations in October of that year, it had a single aircraft.

Today, its fleet consists of 44 planes – both commercial and cargo.

The airline flies roughly 32 regions in western Alaska from its three bases in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet.

Approximately 150 employees work for the company, according to its website.

Nome Airport faced light snow and freezing drizzle were seen around on Thursday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

Meanwhile, it was minus -8.3C in Unalakleet with light snow and fog around take-off, the agency said. At its worst, visibility was down to only half a mile.

Wind gusts up to 35 mph were forecast overnight.

A plane carrying 10 people went missing in rural Alaska during a brutal winter storm, with search and rescue crews scouring the ground and medical personnel “standing ready”.

The “overdue” aircraft, operated by Bering Air, was reported missing just before 4 p.m. local time on Thursday while en route from Unalakleet to Nome in the west of the state.

According to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety, nine passengers and a pilot were on board the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan on Bering Air Flight 445.

The plane took off from Unalakleet, a small community of 690 people, at 2:37 p.m., and officials lost contact with it less than an hour later, according to the director of operations for Bering Air, David Olson. It went off radio roughly 10 minutes before its scheduled arrival in Nome.

It was approximately 12 miles offshore, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

James Liddell details what is known so far.

The plane pilot told air traffic control in Anchorage he had intended to enter a holding pattern – an oval course flown by aircraft awaiting further clearance – while waiting for the runway in Nome to be cleared before the aircraft disappeared, officials said.