In Alaska, search and rescue crews have been searching for a plane that vanished Thursday with 10 people on board.

Alaska State Troopers were notified at 4 pm local time that a Bering Air Caravan with nine passengers, including the pilot, was running late.

No one has confirmed their identities yet.

This is the third major aviation incident in just eight days. An American Eagle flight and Army Black Hawk helicopter collided on Jan. 29 in Washington, D.C., and crashed into the Potomac River, killing all of the 67 passengers. In Philadelphia, on January 31, a medical transport plane crashed, killing six people on board and one on the ground.

David Olson is the Director of Operations for Bering Air. He said that around 2:37 pm, the Caravan left Unalakleet.

Nome Volunteer Fire Department posted on Facebook that a pilot had informed Air Traffic Control “he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for runway clearance”.

A report on X stated that a Coast Guard aircraft had been dispatched 12 miles from shore to the last location known of the missing plane.

FlightRadar shows that an aircraft from Bering Air reported its last data at 3:16 p.m. over Norton Sound.

According to fire department officials, the Hercules HC-130 will fly a grid pattern along the shorelines and over the water with equipment that helps locate the plane in low visibility.

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, also sent flight support.

The fire department said that crews on the ground had covered a section of the coast between Nome & Topkok. They said, “We’ll continue to search in as many places as we can until the plane is found.”

A statement stated, “Due to weather and visibility, we are currently restricted in air search. The weather conditions were too dangerous for people to organize search teams.”

Early Friday morning, the fire department said, “It has no updated information about the location of missing planes. The search continues on the ground. Crews are covering as much area as possible. “

Alaska News Source reported on Thursday that an FAA weather camera near Nome displayed near-whiteout for several hours.

The National Weather Service reported it was 17 degrees Fahrenheit when the plane left Unalakleet, with light snow falling and foggy weather.

The National Guard and State troopers participated in the search, according to the fire department.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, it monitors the situation but doesn’t begin an investigation until a plane’s fate is determined. A team of agency employees is in Alaska year-round.

This aircraft is widely used and is generally reliable.

Alaska’s rural areas are dependent on planes for long-distance travel.

Unalakleet is a western Alaskan town of approximately 690 residents located about 150 miles south of Nome, and 395 miles north from Anchorage.

Nome, Alaska is the finish line of the Iditarod race. The Gold Rush town of Nome lies just south of the Arctic Circle.

Bering Air is based in Nome and serves 32 villages in western Alaska. Bering Air also has hubs in Kotzebue, the capital of Alaska, and Unalakleet.