JUNEAU, Alaska — (AP) — A single-engine plane flying over water in Alaska just south of the Arctic Circle with 10 people on board experienced a sudden loss in elevation and speed just before its signal was lost, authorities said Friday.
At least one of the searchers scouring miles of frozen tundra and flying over icy seas also had found “some sort of item of interest” on Friday afternoon, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble said, without providing specifics.
The Bering Air Caravan, a single-engine turboprop, was heading from the village of Unalakleet to Nome — a distance of about 150 miles (about 240 kilometers) — with nine passengers and a pilot on board when it disappeared Thursday afternoon over Alaska’s Norton Sound, according to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety.
McIntyre-Coble said radar forensic data provided by Civil Air Control indicated that at 3:18 p.m. Thursday, the missing plane experienced “some kind of event that caused them to experience a rapid loss of elevation and a rapid loss of speed.”
He said authorities had just gotten word of the found item shortly before they held an online news conference.
“What that is and what that might shake out to be and what the status of the people ... I cannot speculate at this time,” McIntyre-Coble said.
McIntyre-Coble said the Coast Guard still considered the attempt to find the plane as a search and rescue operation. He said he was unaware of any distress signals from the aircraft.
Authorities say all 10 people on board the plane were adults and that the flight was a regularly scheduled commuter trip.
The plane's disappearance marks the third major U.S. aviation mishap in eight days. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near the nation's capital on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people onboard and another person on the ground.
The Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m. Thursday. There was light snow and fog, with a temperature of 17 degrees (minus 8.3 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service.
Officials lost contact with the plane less than an hour later, according to David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air. The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday that the aircraft's last known location based on transponder data was about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Nome. It was operating at its maximum passenger capacity, according to the airline’s description of the plane.
Bering Air serves 32 villages in western Alaska from hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. Most destinations receive twice-daily scheduled flights Monday through Saturday. Two Bering Air planes appeared to be searching in a grid pattern just off the coastline Friday morning, according to the flight tracking service Flightradar24.
Unalakleet is a community of about 690 people in western Alaska, about 150 miles (about 240 kilometers) southeast of Nome and 395 miles (about 640 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage. The village is on the Iditarod trail, route of the world's most famous sled dog race, during which mushers and their teams must cross the frozen Norton Sound.
Nome, a Gold Rush town, is just south of the Arctic Circle and is known as the ending point of the 1,000-mile (1,610-kilometer) Iditarod.
Alaska's U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, issued statements about the missing plane on X, saying their thoughts and prayers are with the passengers, their families, rescuers and the Nome community. U.S. Rep. Nick Begich posted on X that he was ready to assist the community of Nome and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy “ in any way we can.”
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Johnson reported from Seattle. Martha Bellisle in Seattle contributed to this report.
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