Missing Alaska Plane Found Crashed On Sea Ice With All 10 People On Board Dead

US Authorities have confirmed that a small plane that went missing in Alaska with 10 people on board has been found, with no signs of survivors.

The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, a privately operated aircraft carrying nine passengers and one pilot, disappeared on Thursday afternoon while flying from Unalakleet to Nome.

The last known location of the plane was over a body of water about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Nome.

On Friday, February 7, the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska announced that wreckage matching the missing aircraft had been located near Nome, approximately 885 kilometers (550 miles) northwest of Anchorage.

Coast Guard spokesperson Mike Salerno reported that two responders had managed to approach the wreckage and saw three bodies inside.

“Unfortunately, it does not appear to be a survivable crash,” he said.

Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy expressed his sorrow, saying he and his wife were “heartbroken” over the tragedy.

“Our prayers are with the families, friends, and communities mourning this tragedy,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“We are grateful to the search teams who worked tirelessly to locate the aircraft. I ask all Alaskans to keep those affected in their thoughts and prayers.”

Senator Lisa Murkowski echoed his sentiments, emphasizing the tight-knit nature of Alaska’s communities.

“Alaska is a big small town. When tragedy strikes, we’re never far removed from the Alaskans directly impacted. But that also means we come together as a community to grieve and heal,” she posted on X.

The aircraft was discovered just 34 miles from its intended destination, Unalakleet. The Nome Volunteer Fire Brigade confirmed that search teams had located the wreckage on Thursday night.

So far, only two of the victims have been publicly identified: Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson, who were en route to Unalakleet for maintenance work on the community’s water plant.

The identities of the remaining passengers, all adults, have yet to be released.

The ill-fated flight, which should have taken just 55 minutes, lost contact with air traffic control over Norton Sound.

The pilot’s final communication indicated he was entering a holding pattern while waiting to land. When the plane failed to arrive, a large-scale search operation was launched.

Despite freezing temperatures and harsh conditions, teams from multiple agencies—including the Coast Guard, the Nome Volunteer Fire Brigade, and the FBI—worked together to locate the plane. Now, they are focusing on recovering the wreckage from the remote tundra.

Jim West, chief of the Nome Volunteer Fire Department, highlighted the challenges of the recovery mission, stating, “The conditions out there are dynamic, so we’ve got to do it safely in the fastest way we can”.

The Coast Guard reported that the aircraft experienced a sudden loss of speed and altitude, though the exact cause remains unknown. Recovery efforts have been put on hold until daylight returns.

This crash marks the third major aviation accident in the U.S. within a little over a week.

-On January 28, a regional commercial jetliner collided midair with a U.S. Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., claiming 67 lives.

Two days later, a medical transport plane crashed into a densely populated area in Philadelphia, killing six people on board and one person on the ground.