A commuter plane that vanished amid severe weather in rural Alaska was found crashed on sea ice, with all 10 people on board confirmed dead, Bloomberg reported.
The Bering Air flight, carrying nine passengers and a pilot, went missing Thursday afternoon while traveling from Unalakleet to Nome, according to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety. The wreckage was discovered by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter, which deployed rescue swimmers to confirm the absence of survivors.
This marks the third fatal aviation disaster in the U.S. within two weeks, bringing the total number of commercial aviation-related deaths in the country this year to 83. The surge in fatal crashes contrasts sharply with 2023, which saw no deadly incidents in commercial aviation.
Earlier this year, 67 people died when a regional jet collided mid-air with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C., followed by a medevac plane crash in Philadelphia that killed six people.
Bering Air, which operates flights to 32 villages in western Alaska, is a vital link for many remote communities. Weather conditions near Nome at the time of the crash were reported to be near whiteout, highlighting the challenges of flying in Alaska’s harsh terrain.
