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The city of Nome in Alaska Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP/PA

An aircraft carrying 10 people over Alaska has gone missing

The disappearance marks the third major incident in US aviation in eight days.

AN AIRCRAFT CARRYING 10 people across Alaska’s Norton Sound south of the Arctic Circle went missing yesterday afternoon.

Rescuers searched into the night for any sign of the aircraft.

The Bering Air Caravan was heading from Unalakleet to Nome with nine passengers and a pilot, according to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety. Authorities were working to determine its last known co-ordinates.

The disappearance marks the third major incident in US aviation in eight days.

A commercial jetliner and an army helicopter collided near the nation’s capital on January 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on January 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground.

Unalakleet is a community of about 690 people in western Alaska, about 240km southeast of Nome and 640kms northwest of Anchorage. 

The Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at 2.37pm local time and officials lost contact with it less than an hour later, according to David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air. The aircraft was 19km off shore, according to the US Coast Guard.

“Staff at Bering Air are working hard to gather details, get emergency assistance, search and rescue going,” Olson said.

Bering Air serves 32 villages in western Alaska from hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. Most destinations receive twice-daily scheduled flights from Monday through to Saturday.

Planes are often the only option for travel of any distance in rural Alaska, particularly in winter.

The Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement on social media that ground crews were searching across the coast, from Nome to Topkok.

“Due to weather and visibility, we are limited on air search at the current time,” it said. People were told not to form their own search parties because the weather was too dangerous.

A US Coast Guard airplane crew was expected to search the missing aircraft’s last known position. The National Guard and troopers were also helping with the search, according to the fire department.

It was minus 8.3C in Unalakleet around take-off, according to the National Weather Service. There was light snow falling and fog.

The names of the people onboard have not yet been released.

Nome is located just south of the Arctic Circle and is known as the ending point of the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

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24 Comments
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    Mute Mary Linton
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    Feb 7th 2025, 8:32 AM

    Hoping this incident has a positive outcome, I’d kindly ask the “TDS” sufferers on here to delay their juvenile ramblings until further information ( hopefully positive) is available

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    Mute Barry Spoon
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    Feb 7th 2025, 8:33 AM

    @Mary Linton: well said

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    Mute Niall Lappin
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    Feb 7th 2025, 9:01 AM

    @Mary Linton: while if this happened under Biden it would be a different story

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    Mute Colm Corcoran
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    Feb 7th 2025, 9:04 AM

    @Mary Linton: Can I politely point out that adding in ‘kindly’ doesn’t make your message less provocative, ironically your language comes across a bit juvenile if your concern is solely for the passengers.

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    Mute Mary Linton
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    Feb 7th 2025, 9:08 AM

    @Colm Corcoran: would have thought all our concerns at this point would be for the passengers, unfortunately, I realise this comments board is a mere cesspit of obvious trolls

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    Mute Colm Corcoran
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    Feb 7th 2025, 9:14 AM

    @Mary Linton: Your first comment was to take a political jab, don’t give me that rubbish.

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    Mute Barry Spoon
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    Feb 7th 2025, 9:32 AM

    @Niall Lappin: Biden, worst US president ever lol

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    Mute damien leen
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    Feb 7th 2025, 10:14 AM

    @Mary Linton: you took a shot then climbed up to your ivory tower, sorry doesn’t work like that.

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    Mute Name
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    Feb 7th 2025, 10:20 AM

    @Mary Linton: pathetic political trolling masked as “concern”. Psychopaths do this.

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    Mute Dermot Blaine
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    Feb 7th 2025, 10:20 AM

    @Mary Linton: you spend all day everyday trolling, celebrating the deaths of Palestinian civilians for example, and now you call on others to show respect? Practice what you preach

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    Mute Ian
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    Feb 7th 2025, 10:26 AM

    @Barry Spoon: The facts don’t back up your bullshyte.

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    Mute Darran Macken
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    Feb 8th 2025, 9:47 PM

    The past 24 months has had some amount of airline accidents and or incidents, from windows blown out mid flight, crashes, missing planes it must be unprecedented the amount of incidents.

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