Coast Guard ends search for missing aircraft near Nome, Alaska

54311367826_8672b57725_k — The NTSB, in coordination with the Naval Sea Systems Command Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), recovered the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk involved in the Jan. 29 mid-air collision near DCA. The Black Hawk was recovered to a barge in the Potomac River on Feb. 6.

JUNEAU, Alaska — The Coast Guard ended its search for a missing aircraft with 10 people aboard after it was located Friday afternoon roughly 34 miles southeast of Nome.

The National Transportation Safety Board also launched a go-team to investigate Thursday’s crash of a Cessna 208 Caravan near Nome, Alaska.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew located the aircraft wreckage and lowered two rescue swimmers down to the aircraft.

The rescue swimmers located three people in the forward part of the aircraft, showing no signs of life. The remaining seven people are believed to be inside the aircraft, which was inaccessible due to its condition.

The Coast Guard determined the severity of the wreckage was beyond the possibility of survival.

“Our heartfelt condolences go out to all those impacted by this tragic event during this unimaginably difficult time,” Lt. Matthew Fenstermacher, the command duty officer at the 17th Coast Guard District, said in a release.

The weather at the scene at the time of the accident was a combination of 29-35 mph winds, snow and two miles of visibility.

The Alaska crash follows a Jan. 29 mid-air collision over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport between a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and a Bombardier CRJ700, America Airlines 5342, an American Eagle commuter flight, operated by PSA, flying from Wichita, Kansas. All 64 people on the CRJ700 and three people on the Black Hawk were killed.

On. Jan. 31, a Learjet 55, operating as a Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, crashed in Philadelphia, killing six people on board and one person on the ground. Twenty-four others were injured.