By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A search party has been launched in the US state of Alaska for a small commercial plane that went missing with 10 persons on board, local authorities said.
This is the country’s latest in a series of air incidents. On 30 January, a passenger jet collided midair with a US Army helicopter in the capital city of Washington, killing all 67 people aboard both aircraft.
The disaster was followed closely by the crash of a medical plane into a busy Philadelphia neighbourhood, killing seven and injuring 19.
An AFP report quoting Alaska state police says the latest incident, a Bering Air Caravan with nine passengers and one pilot on board, was reported overdue on Thursday on a flight from Unalakleet to Nome at 4:00 pm Alaska Standard Time.
The two cities are located about 235 km apart across the Norton Sound, on the state’s west coast.
The volunteer fire department in Nome said in a Facebook post that “the pilot of the plane told Anchorage air traffic control that he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway to be cleared” before it suddenly disappeared.
The department added that the US Coast Guard has dispatched a C-130 plane to assist ground crews in locating the missing aircraft.
In the latest update on Friday, it said, “We do not have any updated information on the location of the missing aircraft.
“Crews are still searching on the ground, canvassing as much area as possible”.
The plane’s last known position, transmitted on FlightRadar24, was over the water around 40 minutes after takeoff.
