A tiny commuter jet crashed on sea ice in western Alaska on its route to the hub village of Nome on Friday, killing all ten persons on board, according to officials. The incident was one of the most deadly in the state in the past 25 years. Rescuers were searching the aircraft’s last known position by helicopter when the debris was discovered, according to Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the United States Coast Guard. Two rescue swimmers were dropped to investigate.
The Coast Guard published a shot of the plane’s fragmented carcass and wreckage laying on sea ice. Two people wearing brightly colored emergency gear surrounded the wreckage. “It’s difficult to accept the reality of our loss,” U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski said at an evening press conference.
Nome Mayor John Handeland cried as he spoke about the tragedy and the response effort. “Nome is a solid community; at difficult times, we band together to support one another. Handeland stated, “I expect the outpouring of support to continue in the coming days as we all work to recover from this tragic incident.”
A prayer session was scheduled for later in the evening. Because of the quickly changing conditions, the focus had already shifted to a recovery effort. Officials described the problems, including “young ice” that was slippery and unstable and poor weather forecast over the following 18 hours. “They are on the ice as we speak,” stated Jim West, chief of the Nome Volunteer Fire Department. “The conditions out there are dynamic, so we’ve got to do it safely and in the fastest way we can.”
According to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety, the Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane, carrying nine passengers and a pilot, left Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon. According to the airline’s description of the jet, it operated at maximum passenger capacity. The Cessna Caravan departed Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., and officials lost communication with it less than an hour later, according to Bering Air’s director of operations, David Olson. The National Weather Service reported light snow and fog, with a temperature of 17 degrees.
