Plane From Unalakleet to Nome Crashed

Nome Mayor John Handeland address the community

Photo by Colin A. Warren

By Colin A. Warren

This is a developing story. We will continue to add information as it becomes available and is verified.

Press Conference City Hall Nome Alaska 5 pm:

Mayor John Handeland took the podium first wearing his customary pink dress shirt, although he never entirely took hold of his voice. His vocal chords quivered along with his hands as he announced that there did not appear to be any survivors of Bering Air Flight 445 from Unalakleet to Nome on February 6, 2025. 

“On behalf of fellow Nomeites, I extend our collective condolences and support to the families and loved ones of the passengers and pilots and others in our big Alaska Family…” he told those in the room and the many attending via Zoom.

Senator Murkowski chimed in next from a dark screen with a sincere voice, explaining that although she had been traveling through the mountains with spotty coverage, she had made time to discuss the incident with the new Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy who assured Murkowski that the resources needed for aviation safety would be provided to our state. Murkowski offered her “heartfelt prayers for all.”

Public Affairs Officer for the United States Coast Guard Mike Salerno addressed the crowd next in uniform to speak about the operation after the wreckage had been discovered. He explained two rescue swimmers were dropped from a helicopter and they were the ones that determined that there were three visible bodies on board. He said that “the remaining seven people are believed to be on board, but due to the extent of the damage, the rest of the aircraft was inaccessible.”

Then Nome Fire Department Fire and Search and Rescue Chief Jim West Jr. described the rescue mission from the beginning,which began the day before, February 6, at 4:46 pm. He explained the harrowing conditions — white out snow, unstable sea ice, and the ever looming winter darkness — that the Search and Rescue team persevered through. He thanked the many local volunteers that propelled the mission. 

Next to talk to the meeting was Clint Johnson of the National Transportation Safety Board, via Zoom. He also suffered from connectivity issues during his speech, but he managed to explain that nine different people, in fact, of “nine different disciplines,” were headed to Alaska right now to investigate the crash. 

The last speaker was Bridie Trainor of Norton Sound Health Corporation. She espoused community strength and the availability of counseling, either at the hospital or one of their various help lines at 907-443-3344 or 907-443-6411. She concluded by saying, “We draw on the strength and wisdom of land animals, spirit, ancestors, and each other to guide us through anything.”

Before the meeting concluded, questions were taken from the media and audience, the answers of which provided that the sea ice that the plane is on is “slushy, young…not stable”, that there is only an 18 hour window for recovery before more bad weather moves in, and that the forthcoming investigation will include trying to discover why the plane descended so quickly and suddenly. 

As the town leaders departed the hall, both Mayor Handeland and Chief West dished out deep hugs to community members. 

Update 2:32 pm February 7:

Plane has been found with three individuals deceased 34 miles southeast of Nome

Update at 1:00 pm February 7:

Director of Communications for the Alaska National Guard, Alan Brown, held a press conference. He stressed that the National Guard was in close coordination with the State Troopers and the United States Coast Guard. There were over 400 people in the virtual meeting.

Brown did confirm that an object was found in open water or on the ice “right before” the meeting but could not elaborate at the time.

Family members or next of kin of the passengers on the flight have been notified but no names of the passengers or the pilot are being released to the public yet.

Brown confirmed that the mission was still a “active search and rescue” and not yet a recovery mission.

Update at 11:30 am February 7: 

The Search and Rescue, or SAR, crew was briefed this morning by the Weather Forecast Offices in Fairbanks. There’s clear visibility and mostly clear skies for the next 24 hours with slight winds out of the east. Over the weekend they expect another round of precipitation, both snow and freezing rain.

Bering Air has two King Air planes with spotters in the air. The Coast Guard is flying a C-130 and a Black Hawk helicopter to help find the plane. According to the Nome Volunteer Fire Department, the Coast Guard is dropping a buoy to track and monitor sea ice movement to inform the search.

There are SAR ground teams dispatched on snow machines from Nome and White Mountain.

Update at 7:30 am February 7:

At 7:45 am, a C-130 will retake flight to reignite the search. At daylight a local Search and Rescue team will resume canvassing the area, however, West said, “We can’t get out on the ice because there’s open water.”

The missing plane has not sent signals by its Emergency Locator transmitter.

According to the Nome Volunteer Fire Department, the FBI is coming out to locate the plane through cell phone tracking.

Original Report:

A Bering Air flight from Unalakleet to Nome with ten onboard, including the pilot, went missing on Thursday, February 6. The last contact with the plane was at 3:18 pm. Bering Air’s David Olson said the plane is considered missing. The Nome Volunteer Fire Department said they are in active search.

The last contact with the plane was when the pilot told the Anchorage Air Traffic Control that he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for a runway to be cleared.

A US Coast Guard C-130 was dispatched from Kodiak to scope the area and assist ground crews, although the plane did not land in the search area. Local Search and Rescue teams combed the area with snow machines on land and sea ice. The Nome Police Department called for community members with flat-bottom boats to aid in the search and rescue. Due to weather conditions, the Alaska National Guard could not launch its helicopter in Nome to help with the search.

Nome Volunteer Fire Department and Search and Rescue Chief Jim West Jr. said, “We try to figure the last known position, the glide rate, and that’s where we are right now, between Solomon and Cape Nome, in that general area.”

The Air Force expected to send flight support from Elmendorf Base.

Members of the local Search and Rescue teams on snowmachines reported an open water lead from Topkok to Safety with ice on the other side so that the plane could have landed on the ice.

Temperatures dipped to the single digits overnight. The Search and Rescue command at the Nome Volunteer Fire Department monitored the situation overnight. The C-130 stopped monitoring the area at 1:30 am.