According to an airline official, a small commercial passenger plane that vanished over the Bering Sea in Alaska in frigid, windy circumstances was reportedly located on Friday.
The director of operations for Bering Air, David Olson, would not confirm whether the passengers were located or the whereabouts of the aircraft.
Following a medical aircraft crash in Philadelphia and an American Airlines plane colliding with a helicopter last week over Washington, D.C., the plane’s disappearance marks the third significant aviation catastrophe in the United States this year.
According to the Alaska Department of Public Safety, the single-engine aircraft, which was flown by regional airline Bering Air, was carrying nine passengers and a pilot when its position was lost at approximately 3:20 p.m. local time on Thursday.
According to Olson, Bering Air canceled all of its flights on Friday because of the search and rescue.
Authorities in Alaska reported Friday afternoon that the search had been hindered by severe weather, forcing helicopters and other aircraft to halt in order to deice.
Although the names of people on board have not been made public, officials have stated that everyone on board is an adult.
According to authorities, the jet was about 12 miles offshore when its location was lost, and the Coast Guard, U.S. Air Force, and National Guard participated in an air and land search for it.
According to the local fire department, the FBI was attempting to follow the passengers via their cell phones.
The incident occurs a little more than a week after a Black Hawk army helicopter and an American Airlines passenger flight collided in midair in Washington, D.C., killing 67 people.
Two days later, a medical transport jet crashed in a massive explosion close to a northeast Philadelphia mall, killing seven people. Some pilots are afraid after the recent crashes.
The missing aircraft was flying across Norton Sound, an entrance of the Bering Sea on Alaska’s western coast, from the city of Unalakleet to Nome. Typically, the flight takes less than an hour.
Flight data shows that the aircraft took off on time at 2:38 p.m. local time from Unalakleet, a small fishing community with a population of about 800.
As it crossed Norton Sound to the west, the pilot informed Anchorage air-traffic authorities that he planned to go into a holding pattern while they awaited the clearing of the runway at Nome.
According to the National Weather Service, the temperature in the Nome region was approximately 9 degrees at the time, and there was light snow, strong gusts, and poor visibility.
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