San Francisco, Feb 8 (IANS) The US Coast Guard said it found a crashed plane matching the description of the aircraft carrying 10 people that went missing along Alaska’s western coast.
The plane was found about 54 km southeast of Nome city in western Alaska.
All 10 people on board were confirmed dead, the US Coast Guard said.
The wreckage was discovered after an hours-long search operation amid poor weather and low visibility.
The turboprop Cessna Caravan, operated by Bering Air, was reported missing on Thursday afternoon, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The aircraft, carrying nine passengers and a pilot, was en route from Unalakleet, also in the western part of Alaska, to Nome when its position was lost about 19 km offshore, the US Coast Guard confirmed.
The Nome Volunteer Fire Department on Friday reported that the families of all those on board had been notified. Alaska State Trooper Lt. Ben Endres confirmed that all the passengers were adults on the regularly scheduled commuter flight, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to FlightRadar24, a live flight-tracking website, the aircraft’s last recorded position was over water 38 minutes after departing Unalakleet. The flight between the two locations typically takes less than an hour, Xinhua news agency reported.
Two people who died in the crash were on a work trip for a non-profit tribal health organisation. The other people’s names have not been released.
The search for the aircraft is taking place as US air safety investigators are still examining two tragic events from recent weeks. These include a midair collision involving a Black Hawk helicopter and a passenger jet near Washington, DC, which resulted in the loss of 67 lives, as well as the crash of a medevac jet in Philadelphia that claimed the lives of seven individuals.
–IANS
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