Small Plane With 10 Onboard Goes Missing in Alaska

A plane carrying 10 people went missing in a remote region along the western coast of Alaska on Thursday, setting off a search amid poor weather conditions, officials said.

The Cessna 208 Caravan, on Bering Air Flight 445, left Unalakleet, Alaska, about 2:40 p.m. local time, said David Olson, the airline’s director of operations. The plane went off the radar and lost radio contact with air traffic control and the airline around 3:20 p.m., roughly 10 minutes before it was scheduled to arrive in Nome, he said.

A pilot and nine passengers were onboard, Mr. Olson said, adding that their names would not be immediately released. Bering Air’s Caravans can carry as many as nine passengers, according to the airline.

When its position was lost, the aircraft was 12 miles offshore, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a statement.

Search crews and aircraft from the Coast Guard, the National Guard and the U.S. Air Force were working to locate the plane, the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement. The Nome Police Department had earlier asked members of the community with boats to assist with the search. It said later that it had received sufficient offers of help. The fire department said that the weather conditions made visibility in the area poor, warning residents not to form their own search parties.

Before the plane disappeared, its pilot told air traffic control in Anchorage that he had intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway in Nome to be cleared, according to the fire department.

More than 80 percent of communities in Alaska are inaccessible by road, according to Alaska’s Transportation Department. Air connections, especially those provided by regional carriers like Bering Air, are essential for getting supplies like fuel and food.

Bering Air is based in Nome, with hubs in Kotzebue and Unalakleet, and operates flights to 32 more communities, according to its website. Nome is home to about 3,500 people, and Unalakleet about 800.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement that it was monitoring the situation. The Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a developing story.