Flight Map Reveals Last Known Location Of Missing Alaska Plane As Desperate Search Continues

A plane carrying 10 people disappeared off the coast of Alaska during a winter storm, and a flight tracker captured the moment the Bering Air flight vanished.

The aircraft, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, was reported missing around 4 p.m. local time Thursday while traveling from Unalakleet to Nome.

Officials lost contact with Bering Air Flight 445 less than an hour after it took off while it was flying over Norton Sound - about 10 minutes away from landing in Nome.

The average flight time for the trip is 47 minutes.

Alaska Airplane Crash

FlightRadar 24 showed the plane's flight path towards Nome but it suddenly ends about 12 miles off shore.

"We are currently doing an active ground search from Nome and from White Mountain," the Nome Volunteer Fire Department wrote on Facebook, adding that the plane's exact location is "still unknown."

"Due to weather and visibility, we are limited on air search at the current time. National Guard and Coast Guard and Troopers have been notified and are active in the search. Norton Sound Health Corporation is standing by," it continued.

Nome Alaska Plane Missing

In an update a few hours later, the fire department said a National Guard C-130 searching for the missing aircraft reported that they had "found nothing so far."

An Air Force C-130 also reported "no visuals."

"Staff at Bering Air is working hard to gather details, get emergency assistance, search and rescue going," David Olson, director of operations for the regional airline said, the Associated Press reported.

The pilot had told Anchorage Air Traffic Control that he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway to be cleared. The plane then disappeared and communication ceased.

The disappearance is the latest aviation incident in less than two weeks.

An American Airlines passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29, killing 67 people.

Two days later, a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia, killing six onboard and one on the ground.