A desperate search is underway after a Bering Air plane with ten people on board vanished en route to Nome, Alaska. The aircraft, which left Unalakleet, was reported “overdue” when it failed to arrive at 4 p.m. Crews are struggling to track its last coordinates due to severe weather.

A Coast Guard aircraft equipped with advanced search technology has arrived to conduct a “grid pattern search” despite low visibility. The Nome Volunteer Fire Department confirmed, “We are doing an active ground search from Nome and White Mountain. Due to weather and visibility, we are limited on air search at the current time.”

Authorities urged the public not to form private search parties due to dangerous conditions. “We ask the public to please think of those who may be missing, but due to weather and safety concerns, please do not form individual search parties,” they warned.

The pilot’s last communication was with Anchorage Air Traffic Control, stating he would “enter a holding pattern” before landing. Contact was lost 12 miles offshore. FlightRadar data shows the aircraft’s last position over Norton Sound at 3:16 p.m.

Norton Sound Regional Hospital has set up a family center for passengers’ loved ones. Senator Dan Sullivan wrote, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the passengers, their families, and the rescue crew.”