Missing Plane with 10 People Experienced 'Rapid Loss' in Altitude and Speed Before Disappearing in Alaska: Authorities

Mar. 15, 2025

New details are emerging after aplane carrying 10 people disappearedmid-flight over Alaska.

Nine passengers and one pilot were aboard the Bering Air Caravan flight when it was reported overdue at around 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, Feb. 6, while heading from Unalakleet to Nome, according to a previousstatementfrom the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

The Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center in Juneau received an alert notice that the plane was overdue around 4:30 p.m., McIntyre-Coble added.

Satellite image of the Bering Sea.Planet Observer/UIG/Shutterstock

Planet Observer/UIG/Shutterstock

“To the families and loved ones of those who are missing, just know that we are using every available resource and working closely with the other teams, and every request we’ve made for federal or state assistance has been granted,” Lieutenant Ben Endres of Alaska State Troopers said at the press conference.

The plane’s last known position was “in the vicinity of Norton Sound, approximately 30 miles southeast of Nome,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in anews releaseon Friday, Feb. 7.

The aircraft was 12 miles offshore at the time of the incident, the U.S. Coast Guard added in athread on X.

TheNome Volunteer Fire Department(NVFD) said, “The pilot of the plane told Anchorage Air Traffic Control that he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway to be clear.”

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The fire department initiallystated on Facebookthat the air search was initially limited “due to weather and visibility.”

By Friday,the NVFD saidauthorities learned that weather conditions were expected to be stable “for the next 24 hours.”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is monitoring the search for the plane, Clint Johnson, Chief of the NTSB’s Alaska Regional Office, said at Friday’s press conference.

source: people.com