US Coast Guard finds wreckage of missing Alaska plane; all 10 on board killed

JUNEAU, Alaska – The US Coast Guard in Alaska found the wreckage of a small plane atop frozen sea ice on Feb 8, after the

aircraft suddenly lost altitude on Feb 6

and crashed, killing all 10 people on board.

Two US Coast Guard rescue swimmers who reached the wreckage could see three bodies inside, and the other seven were presumed to be inside the wreckage, Coast Guard spokesman Mike Salerno told reporters.

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

Mr Clint Johnson, chief of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Alaska office, said at the same news conference that all 10 were dead.

“Unfortunately now, since the wreckage has been found and with 10 fatalities, it’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and go to work,” he added.

Harsh winter weather impeded search efforts, and it may take hours or days to recover the bodies from the remote site, officials said.

The wreckage was discovered 55km south-east of Nome, the Coast Guard said in a post that included a picture of the wrecked plane in the snow and the two members of the recovery team.

The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft carrying a pilot and nine adult passengers was reported missing en route from Unalakleet at about 4pm local time on Feb 6, according to a dispatch posted on the website of the Alaska State Troopers in Nome, which is more than 805km north-west of Anchorage.

The plane went missing about 19km offshore over the icy waters of the Norton Sound, which is part of the Bering Sea, according to the Coast Guard.

Mr Benjamin McIntyre-Coble, an officer with the Coast Guard in Alaska, has said the plane suffered a rapid loss of altitude and speed, according to radar data, but could offer no details on what may have caused that.

Weather was wintry and poor in the area where the plane suddenly dropped, officials said.

The plane was operated by Bering Air and was making a 240km trip from Unalakleet to Nome, a regularly scheduled commuter flight that traverses the Norton Sound. Family members of those on board have been notified, but no names have been released.

The incident comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of air safety in the US.

NTSB investigators are probing two deadly crashes in recent days: the midair

collision of a passenger jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter

in Washington, DC, that killed 67 people; and a

medical jet crash in Philadelphia

that killed seven. REUTERS