Plane with 10 people aboard reported missing in Alaska, 3rd major US aviation incident in 8 days

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Searchers flew over stretches of ice-covered seas and scoured miles of frozen tundra Friday for any sign of a plane that went missing while carrying 10 people in western Alaska just south of the Arctic Circle. FBI agents were using cellphone tracking data to help locate the aircraft.The Bering Air Caravan, a single-engine turboprop, was heading from the village of Unalakleet to Nome — a distance of about 150 miles (about 240 kilometers) — with nine passengers and a pilot on board when it disappeared Thursday afternoon over Alaska’s Norton Sound, according to Alaska’s Department of Public Safety.The Alaska Air National Guard searched with an HC-130 plane Thursday night, but a helicopter had to turn back because of bad weather before even reaching the search area. The region is prone to sudden snow squalls and high winds in the winter, and residents were told not to form their own search parties because the weather was too dangerous. Airplanes are often the only option for travel of any distance in rural Alaska, particularly in winter.The Guard was approved to fly the helicopter Friday morning, and the Coast Guard brought an additional C-130 to help, the Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement posted to social media. The Coast Guard planned to drop a buoy to help track the movement of sea ice, aiding the search, and a ground crew on snowmobiles was headed along the coast and farther inland.The weather — partly sunny and very cold, with an expected high of 16 degrees (minus 8.9 Celsius) — was expected to remain stable until at least Saturday morning, the National Weather Service said.

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