It has been confirmed that there were no survivors following the crash of the Bering Air plane near Nome, Alaska. The Coast Guard recovered three bodies from the wreckage, but the remaining passengers and crew are still trapped inside the aircraft due to the challenging conditions at the crash site.
Searchers on Friday found the missing Bering Air plane on the sea ice near Nome, but they did not find any survivors.
The aircraft went missing during its regular flight from Unalakleet to Nome with a pilot and nine passengers on Thursday afternoon.
After an extensive search involving multiple agencies and volunteers, the U.S. Coast Guard located the crashed plane, identified as a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, 34 miles southeast of Nome. The rescuers found three deceased individuals inside the aircraft. Petty Officer 1st Class Travis McGee mentioned that further recovery efforts have been halted due to the state of the wreckage.
“The remaining 7 people are believed to be inside the aircraft but are currently inaccessible due to the condition of the plane,” the agency said in a social media post. “Our heartfelt condolences are with those affected by this tragic incident.”
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
Flight records indicate the plane left Unalakleet around 2:40 p.m. Thursday. It was flying at around 3,400 feet when it stopped transmitting its location at 3:18 p.m. It was scheduled to arrive in Nome about 10 minutes later.
During a Friday news conference, Coast Guard Lt. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble said radar data shows the plane drop.
“Part of that radar analysis showed that at around 3:18 p.m. yesterday afternoon, this aircraft experienced some kind of event which caused them to experience a rapid loss in elevation and a rapid loss in speed,” McIntyre-Coble said.
Conditions in the area had been difficult, which isn’t unusual for this part of Alaska at this time of year. Norton Sound and the Bering Strait experienced some severe winter weather; on Friday, when the Bering Air flight had been scheduled to arrive at Nome, there was snow falling with visibility at one mile. An Alaska Air National Guard helicopter and a Bering Air helicopter both were forced to turn back from conducting their aerial search for the plane due to weather. Searchers did come in on the ground using snow machines.
