Yesterday, Thursday, during severe winter weather in a rural area of Alaska, the search continues for a missing passenger plane that vanished in the air. According to information from the "Telegraph" publication, news was reported about the disappearance of a Bering Air Caravan plane around four hours ago local time (one hour night by Greenwich Mean Time), when it was flying from Unalaska to Nome with nine passengers and a pilot on board, according to information from the Alaska Department of Public Safety. Authorities are trying to determine its last known coordinates.
The community of Unalaska, where about 690 people live, is located on the western tip of Alaska, approximately 150 miles (240 kilometers) to the southeast of Nome and 395 miles (640 kilometers) to the northwest of Anchorage. The Cessna Caravan took off from Unalaska at 14:37 (23:37 by Greenwich Mean Time), and according to David Olson, the director of operations at Bering Air, with him the connection was lost less than an hour ago. According to Olson, the plane was located about 12 miles (approximately 19 kilometers) from the shore, according to the American coast.
"Bering Air employees are putting in every effort to collect data and provide assistance in emergency situations, searches, and rescues," - commented Mr. Olson. Bering Air services 32 communities in western Alaska from bases in Nome, Kotzebue, and Unalaska. Most of the flights are performed twice a day from Monday to Saturday.
According to the fire department's information in Nome, located on official communication channels, a ground search is being conducted from Nome and White Mountain, because of the weather and visibility currently only ground search is possible. People are asked not to form their search groups due to extreme weather hazard. National Guard, Coast Guard, and other services are also participating in the searches along with the fire service. The video camera of the meteorological service of the Federal Aviation Administration near Nome showed almost a whiteout for several hours last evening on Thursday, the names of people on board the plane have not been disclosed.
