Nome, Alaska :- A light aircraft (carrying a total of ten passengers) crashed in western Alaska en route to Nome, and have been confirmed as dead. The horrific event, one of the deadliest air disasters in the state in the past 25 years, has shaken the community.
Crash Details and Discovery
The Bering Air single engin (ie) turboprop aircraft left Unalakleet Thursday afternoon carrying nine passengers and one pilot. Less than an hour into the flight, officials lost contact with the aircraft. The US Coast Guard began a search and found the wreckage on sea ice about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Nome.
18 p.m., suggesting an unidentified in-flight event. Nevertheless, the ultimate reason for the crash has not been established so far.
Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble reported that distress signals were not received from the aircraft, and the aircraft’s emergency locating transmitter did not transmit any warning. In general, such a device is triggered solely by an exposure to seawater which emits distress signals to the satellite.
Community Mourns the Loss
The tragedy has deeply affected the Nome community. Nome Mayor John Handeland became emotional while addressing the press, emphasizing the town’s resilience in times of hardship.
Nome is tight community in difficult times we pull ourselves together and help each other, Handeland (personal communication, 2004) noted. “I expect the outpouring of support to continue as we all work to recover from this tragic incident.
Senator Lisa Murkowski echoed similar sentiments, stating, “It’s hard to accept the reality of our loss.
Prayer vigil was organized for Friday evening to pay tribute to the slain and to comfort bereaved families.
Weather and Search Efforts
At crash time, Nome was under light snow and fog, with a temperature of 17 °F -8.3 °C). These conditions, although not uncommon for Alaska, could have contributed to the accident.
The operation included local, state, and federal agencies and extended feet in a very large area of frozen tundra and ice-covered areas. Flight tracking services also identified two Bering Air aircraft searching in a grid pattern across the coastline on Friday morning.
Aviation Challenges in Alaska
Flying is an essential means of transport for Alaska owing to its outsized, mountainous terrain and scarcity of road access. In various communities, small aircraft play a role in travel, delivery, and even school sports.
Bering Air, the operator of the fatal flight, is an airline with 32 other remote villages flying from the airports in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. The flight that crashed was a normal flight.
At Unalakleet departure the small village of about 690 inhabitants finds itself 150 miles ~240 km) from the city of Nome. The village is also of particular landmark because it sits along on the Iditarod Trail, the path of the globally recognized sled dog race. Nome, a historic Gold Rush town located at the edge of the Arctic, acts as the finish line (1,000 miles or 1,610 km) of the race.
Aviation Safety Concerns and Recent Accidents
This is the third major aviation crash in the United States in 8 days.
On January 29, a commercial passenger aircraft crashed into an Army helicopter near the capital of the United States – Washington, D.C. – killing 67 persons.
On January 31, a medical air charter crashed in Philadelphia killing six air passengers and one person on the ground).
The recent string of aviation accidents has generated both anxiety regarding air safety and a distinct questioning of smaller aircraft operations in remote settings in which these events occur more frequently.
Ongoing Investigation
Authorities continue to investigate the cause of the crash. Although early radar data indicates the sharp loss of altitude, experts are working to determine if mechanical failure, weather, or cockpit will be implicated.
In the next few days, Nome will still grieve for those it has lost. The investigation unfolds and this tragedy provides a reminder of the difficulties of air transport in Alaska as well as of the dangers inherent in such transport.
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