XPost: rec.aviation.piloting, alt.disasters.aviation, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: nospam@comcast.net   
      
   ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A small commuter plane that crashed in western   
   Alaska on its way to the hub community of Nome was located Friday on sea   
   ice, and all 10 people on board were dead, authorities said. The crash   
   was one of the deadliest in the state in the last 25 years.   
      
   Rescuers were searching the aircraft's last known location by helicopter   
   when the wreckage was spotted, said Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the   
   U.S. Coast Guard. Two rescue swimmers were lowered to investigate.   
      
   A photo provided by the Coast Guard showed the plane's splintered body   
   and debris lying on the sea ice. Two people in brightly colored   
   emergency gear circled the wreckage.   
      
   “It’s hard to accept the reality of our loss,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski   
   said during an evening news conference.   
      
   Nome Mayor John Handeland choked up as he discussed the deaths and the   
   response effort.   
      
   “Nome is a strong community, and in challenging times we come together   
   and support each other. I expect the outpouring of support to continue   
   in the coming days as we all work to recover from this tragic incident,”   
   Handeland said.   
      
   A prayer service was announced for later in the evening.   
      
   Already the focus was shifting to a recovery operation because of   
   rapidly changing conditions. Officials outlined the challenges including   
   bad weather expected in the next 18 hours and “young ice” that was   
   slushy and not stable.   
      
   “They are on the ice as we speak,” said Jim West, chief of the Nome   
   Volunteer Fire Department. “The conditions out there are dynamic, and so   
   we’ve got to do it safely and the fastest way we can.”   
      
   The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from   
   Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot,   
   Alaska’s Department of Public Safety said. It was operating at its   
   maximum passenger capacity, according to the airline’s description of   
   the plane.   
      
   The Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., and officials lost   
   contact with it less than an hour later, according to David Olson,   
   director of operations for Bering Air. There was light snow and fog,   
   with a temperature of 17 degrees (minus 8.3 Celsius), according to the   
   National Weather Service.   
      
   The Coast Guard said the aircraft went missing about 30 miles (48   
   kilometers) southeast of Nome.   
      
   Radar forensic data provided by the U.S. Civil Air Patrol indicated that   
   about 3:18 p.m., the plane had “some kind of event which caused them to   
   experience a rapid loss in elevation and a rapid loss in speed,” Coast   
   Guard Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble said. “What that event is, I   
   can't speculate to.”   
      
   McIntyre-Coble said he was unaware of any distress signals from the   
   aircraft. Planes carry an emergency locating transmitter. If exposed to   
   seawater, the device sends a signal to a satellite, which then relays   
   that message back to the Coast Guard to indicate an aircraft may be in   
   distress. No such messages were received by the Coast Guard, he said.   
      
   All 10 people on board the plane were adults, and the flight was a   
   regularly scheduled commuter trip, according to Lt. Ben Endres of the   
   Alaska State Troopers.   
      
   Two people who died in the crash were on a work trip for a non-profit   
   tribal health organization, according to Alaska’s News Source. The other   
   people’s names have not been released.   
      
   Local, state and federal agencies had assisted in the search effort,   
   combing stretches of ice-dotted waters and scouring miles of frozen tundra.   
      
   The National Transportation Safety Board was sending nine people to the   
   scene from various states.   
      
   Flying is an essential mode of transportation in Alaska due to the   
   vastness of the landscape and limited infrastructure. Most communities   
   are not connected to the developed road system that serves the state’s   
   most populous region, and it’s common to travel by small plane.   
      
   Some high school teams fly to sporting events against rival high   
   schools, and goods are brought to many communities by barge or by air.   
      
   The plane's crash marks the third major U.S. aviation mishap in eight   
   days. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near the   
   nation’s capital on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation   
   plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people on   
   board and another person on the ground.   
      
   Bering Air serves 32 villages in western Alaska from hubs in Nome,   
   Kotzebue and Unalakleet. Most destinations receive twice-daily scheduled   
   flights Monday through Saturday.   
      
   Unalakleet is a community of about 690 people about 150 miles (about 240   
   kilometers) southeast of Nome and 395 miles (about 640 kilometers)   
   northwest of Anchorage. The village is on the Iditarod trail, route of   
   the world's most famous sled dog race, during which mushers and their   
   teams must cross the frozen Norton Sound.   
      
   Nome, a Gold Rush town, is just south of the Arctic Circle and is known   
   as the ending point of the 1,000-mile (1,610-kilometer) Iditarod. The   
   city said prayer vigils would be held Friday for those on board the   
   plane, friends and family and those involved in search efforts.   
      
   https://www.11alive.com/article/news/nation-world/search-underwa   
   -for-plane-carrying-10-people-alaska/507-a1d4969f-b001-4052-8119   
   838ff14701c0?ref=exit-recirc   
      
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