Wreckage of Missing Alaska Plane Found on Frozen Sea Ice, All 10 Aboard Presumed Dead

The US Coast Guard in Alaska has located the wreckage of a small passenger plane on frozen sea ice, a day after it suffered a rapid loss of altitude and disappeared. Officials confirmed on Friday that all 10 people aboard the aircraft, including the pilot, were presumed dead.

Two Coast Guard rescue swimmers who reached the site reported seeing three bodies inside the wreckage, while the remaining seven were believed to be within the mangled aircraft, Coast Guard spokesperson Mike Salerno said at a press conference.

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

Clint Johnson, head of the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Alaska office, confirmed the fatalities.

“Now that the wreckage has been found and we have confirmation of 10 fatalities, it’s time for us to roll up our sleeves and go to work,” Johnson said.

The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan aircraft, operated by Bering Air, had been en route from Unalakleet to Nome, a routine 150-mile commuter flight across the icy waters of Norton Sound. It vanished from radar around 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, approximately 12 miles offshore.

Coast Guard officials said the wreckage was discovered 34 miles (55 km) southeast of Nome. A photo shared by the agency showed the aircraft embedded in snow, with two recovery team members at the site.

Investigators noted that radar data indicated the plane experienced a sudden drop in altitude and speed before it disappeared, though the cause remains unknown. The region was experiencing poor winter weather at the time of the incident.

Harsh conditions are complicating recovery efforts, with officials warning that it could take hours or even days to retrieve the victims from the remote crash site. Families of the deceased have been notified, but authorities have yet to release their identities.

The disaster comes at a time of increased scrutiny of air safety in the US, as the NTSB investigates two other deadly crashes: a midair collision between 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 left seven dead.

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