A Bering Air Cessna 208B Grand Caravan in Nome, Alaska. (Credit: Quintin Soloviev)
A Bering Air Cessna 208B Grand Caravan with 10 people on board, including nine passengers and one pilot, has disappeared from radar screens while flying over western Alaska.
The aircraft was en route from Unalakleet to Nome when contact was lost around 4 p.m. local time.
The flight departed Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., and communication was lost less than an hour later.
“On February 6, 2025, at 4:00pm, AST was contacted by AKRCC in reference to an overdue aircraft,” the Alaska Department of Public Safety said on its website.
The announcement continued, “It was reported that a Bering Air Caravan had gone missing while en route from Unalakleet to Nome, with 9 passengers and 1 pilot on board. SAR crews are working to get to the last known coordinates.”
Authorities are working to determine the plane’s last known coordinates.
Due to hazardous winter weather and limited visibility, aerial search efforts have been constrained.
Ground search teams from Nome and White Mountain have been deployed, and residents are advised against forming their own search parties due to the perilous conditions.
According to Nome Volunteer Fire Department:
SEARCH AND RESCUE – ACTIVE SEARCH
We are currently responding to a report of a missing Bering Air caravan.
There were ten people on board and aircraft was in route from Unalakleet to Nome.
We are currently doing an active ground search from Nome and from White Mountain and have as much up to date information on the event as possible.
Due to weather and visibility, we are limited on air search at the current time. National Guard and Coast Guard and Troopers have been notified and
are active in the search. Norton Sound Health Corporation is standing by.
We ask the public to please think of those who may be missing at this time, but due to weather and safety concerns please do not form individual search parties. Families are encouraged to seek support at Norton Sound Health Corporation.
More information will be posted as it is confirmed and comes available.
The fire department added that as of 7:00 p.m. local time, search efforts for the missing Bering Air Cessna Caravan have intensified. A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 aircraft has been deployed to conduct an aerial survey of the area, aiming to assist ground teams by providing precise GPS coordinates.
The C-130 will not land but will fly a grid pattern over the water and shoreline in an attempt to locate the missing plane.
Equipped with specialized search and rescue technology, the aircraft is capable of detecting objects and individuals even in zero-visibility conditions.
Additionally, Elmendorf Air Force Base is dispatching flight support to aid in the search operations, according to Alaska News Source.
Ground crews have extensively covered the coastline from Nome to Topkok, but the exact location of the aircraft remains unknown.
Authorities are committed to expanding search efforts through all possible avenues until the plane is found.
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