The US Coast Guard in Alaska located the wreckage of a small plane on Friday, which had crashed after rapidly losing altitude the previous day, killing all 10 people on board, officials confirmed.
Two Coast Guard rescue swimmers reached the wreckage and reported seeing three bodies inside, while the remaining seven are presumed to be within the wreckage, said spokesperson Mike Salerno during a press briefing. “Unfortunately, it does not appear to be a survivable crash,” Salerno added.
Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska office, confirmed the fatalities, saying, “Unfortunately now since the wreckage has been found and 10 fatalities, it’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and go to work.”
Severe winter conditions hindered search efforts, and it may take hours or days to recover the bodies from the remote crash site, officials stated.
The wreckage was found 34 miles southeast of Nome, with a photo released showing the plane in the snow and two members of the recovery team.
The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, carrying a pilot and nine passengers, went missing Thursday afternoon during a 150-mile flight from Unalakleet to Nome, Alaska, located over 500 miles northwest of Anchorage. It lost altitude around 12 miles offshore over the icy waters of Norton Sound.
According to Coast Guard officer Benjamin McIntyre-Coble, the plane experienced a rapid loss of altitude and speed, though no cause has been determined. The weather in the area at the time was harsh and snowy.
The aircraft, operated by Bering Air, was a routine commuter flight. While the families of those on board have been notified, their identities have not been released.
This incident follows heightened concerns over air safety in the US, as the NTSB investigates two recent deadly crashes: a midair collision in Washington, DC, between a passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, and a medical jet crash in Philadelphia.
