Search Underway in Alaska for Missing Cessna 208B

The missing aircraft is a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, similar to the one shown here. [FLYING file photo/U.S. Air Force]

The U.S. Coast Guard, National Guard, and state police in Alaska are searching for a Cessna 208B that went missing Thursday while en route from Unalakleet to Nome on Alaska's west coast.

The aircraft is operated by Bering Air, a carrier that offers scheduled service from 32 villages in western Alaska operating out of Nome, Kotzebue, and Unalakleet.

David Olson, Bering Air's director of operations, said the Caravan took off from Unalakeet Airport (PAUN) at 2:37 p.m. AKST, carrying nine passengers and one pilot, The Associated Press reported. The airline did not immediately respond to FLYING's request for comment.

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According to the National Weather Service, conditions were foggy with light snow when the flight departed. Contact with the aircraft was lost less than an hour later. FlightRadar24 flight tracking data for the aircraft showed the aircraft over Norton Sound when contact was terminated.

By 4 p.m., state officials launched a search for the aircraft. On Friday, a Hercules HC-130 specially equipped to locate the aircraft in low visibility conditions flew a grid pattern over the search area while crews searched the coastline.

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Bering Air Flight 45—a Grand Caravan EX—is an aircraft designed for utility and can be configured for passengers, cargo, or a mixture of both. The aircraft is equipped with a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-114 turboprop engine.

This is a developing story.

Alaska Bering Air Cessna 208B

Meg GodlewskiAuthor

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.