Urgent Search Launched for Missing Plane off Alaska Coast

An intensive search operation is underway in rural Alaska after a Bering Air plane carrying 10 people failed to reach Nome. The Coast Guard and local volunteers are involved in the search. Meanwhile, a US surveillance plane crash in the Philippines and a mid-air collision in Virginia have also shook aviation safety.

US officials reported on Friday that a search is in progress in rural Alaska for a missing plane with 10 people on board, including the pilot. The aircraft, part of Bering Air's fleet, was traveling from Unalakleet to Nome but did not arrive as scheduled, according to local media reports.

The plane was declared overdue to the Alaska State Troopers at approximately 4 p.m. local time, as stated by the Alaska Department of Public Safety and reported by NBC News. The Coast Guard has been alerted, and there is an ongoing ground search, according to a social media update from the Nome Volunteer Fire Department. The Coast Guard's Alaska maritime account on X reported that the plane's position was lost 12 miles offshore from Unalakleet to Nome.

"The US Coast Guard District 17 initiated a response to an aircraft emergency notification from the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at 4:30 p.m. for a Cessna Caravan with 10 people aboard," stated USCGAlaska. Concurrently, CNN has reported that a US-contracted surveillance plane crashed in the Philippines on Thursday morning, resulting in the deaths of all four personnel on board, including one US military service member, according to US Indo-Pacific Command. Earlier on January 29, a devastating collision occurred between an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, and a Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, claiming the lives of 64 individuals, including four crew members, in the air disaster.