Missing commuter plane found crashed on Alaska sea ice and all 10 aboard are dead, authorities say

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on its way to the hub community of Nome was located Friday on sea ice, and all 10 people on board were dead, authorities said. The crash was one of the deadliest in the state in the last 25 years.

Rescuers were searching the aircraft's last known location by helicopter when the wreckage was spotted, said Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard. Two rescue swimmers were lowered to investigate.

A photo provided by the Coast Guard showed the plane's splintered body and debris lying on the sea ice. Two people in brightly colored emergency gear circled the wreckage.

“It’s hard to accept the reality of our loss,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said during an evening news conference.

Nome Mayor John Handeland choked up as he discussed the deaths and the response effort.

“Nome is a strong community, and in challenging times we come together and support each other. I expect the outpouring of support to continue in the coming days as we all work to recover from this tragic incident,” Handeland said.

A prayer service was announced for later in the evening.

Already the focus was shifting to a recovery operation because of rapidly changing conditions. Officials outlined the challenges including bad weather expected in the next 18 hours and “young ice” that was slushy and not stable.

“They are on the ice as we speak,” said Jim West, chief of the Nome Volunteer Fire Department. “The conditions out there are dynamic, and so we’ve got to do it safely and the fastest way we can.”

The Bering Air single-engine turboprop plane was traveling from Unalakleet on Thursday afternoon with nine passengers and a pilot, Alaska’s Department of Public Safety said. It was operating at its maximum passenger capacity, according to the airline’s description of the plane.

The Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., and officials lost contact with it less than an hour later, according to David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air. There was light snow and fog, with a temperature of 17 degrees (minus 8.3 Celsius), according to the National Weather Service.

The Coast Guard said the aircraft went missing about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Nome.

Radar forensic data provided by the U.S. Civil Air Patrol indicated that about 3:18 p.m., the plane had “some kind of event which caused them to experience a rapid loss in elevation and a rapid loss in speed,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin McIntyre-Coble said. “What that event is, I can't speculate to.”

McIntyre-Coble said he was unaware of any distress signals from the aircraft. Planes carry an emergency locating transmitter. If exposed to seawater, the device sends a signal to a satellite, which then relays that message back to the Coast Guard to indicate an aircraft may be in distress. No such messages were received by the Coast Guard, he said.

All 10 people on board the plane were adults, and the flight was a regularly scheduled commuter trip, according to Lt. Ben Endres of the Alaska State Troopers.

Two people who died in the crash were on a work trip for a non-profit tribal health organization, according to Alaska’s News Source. The other people’s names have not been released.

Local, state and federal agencies had assisted in the search effort, combing stretches of ice-dotted waters and scouring miles of frozen tundra.

The National Transportation Safety Board was sending nine people to the scene from various states.

Flying is an essential mode of transportation in Alaska due to the vastness of the landscape and limited infrastructure. Most communities are not connected to the developed road system that serves the state’s most populous region, and it’s common to travel by small plane.

Some high school teams fly to sporting events against rival high schools, and goods are brought to many communities by barge or by air.

The plane's crash marks the third major U.S. aviation mishap in eight days. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near the nation’s capital on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground.

Bering Air serves 32 villages in western Alaska from hubs in Nome, Kotzebue and Unalakleet. Most destinations receive twice-daily scheduled flights Monday through Saturday.

Unalakleet is a community of about 690 people about 150 miles (about 240 kilometers) southeast of Nome and 395 miles (about 640 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage. The village is on the Iditarod trail, route of the world's most famous sled dog race, during which mushers and their teams must cross the frozen Norton Sound.

Nome, a Gold Rush town, is just south of the Arctic Circle and is known as the ending point of the 1,000-mile (1,610-kilometer) Iditarod. The city said prayer vigils would be held Friday for those on board the plane, friends and family and those involved in search efforts.

Golden reported from Seattle. Martha Bellisle in Seattle and Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed to this report.

This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, shows a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on a flight that was bound for the hub community of Nome. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP)

This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, shows a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on a flight that was bound for the hub community of Nome. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP)

This photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, shows a small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on a flight that was bound for the hub community of Nome. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP)

A Bering Air plane prepares to arrive in Ambler on Saturday, April 9, 2022. (Emily Mesner/Anchorage Daily News via AP)

FILE - Ice is visible in the Bering Sea Jan. 22, 2020, as seen from a small plane airplane near the western Alaska coast. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

FILE - Ice is visible in the Bering Sea Jan. 22, 2020, as seen from a small plane airplane near the western Alaska coast. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

FILE - This Jan. 18, 2020, photo shows people preparing to get on an airplane at the airport in Bethel, Alaska, for a flight to Toksook Bay. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)

FILE - The city of Nome, Alaska, awaits the first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race musher Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Ryan Redington won the race. (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)

CHABLIS, France (AP) — France’s wine producers are deeply concerned that the 20% tariff slapped by President Donald Trump will deal a severe blow to the sector that relies on the U.S. as its top market.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday warned of “massive” impact as he met with representatives of the most affected industries, including wine and spirits.

Vincent Dampt, owner of a wine domain in Chablis, in the Burgundy region, called the tariffs “bad news."

“But it could be worse,” Dampt added. “I was really stressed with the possibility of having this 200% tariff.”

Trump had threatened last month a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the EU went forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey.

Dampt suggested he preferred a negotiated outcome between the EU and the U.S., saying a full on trade war is bad for business.

“We’re not at school,” he said. “If you answer too quickly with the same violence, it’s not constructive.”

A third generation winemaker, Dampt ships about 30% of his production to the U.S. — roughly 25,000 bottles. A drop in sales there would severely impact his business.

Chablis white wine was also the target of tariffs under the first Trump administration at the height of the spat between aviation giants Boeing and Airbus.

There's only one way for Dampt to fight back and maintain a presence in the U.S.: bring down his prices and cut his profit. But he said "it's not an easy thing to do" especially now when he had already lost about 50% of his crop last year, mostly due to hail storms and killer frost.

The Bourgogne Wine Board said in a statement it expects the industry to be “heavily affected” because the U.S. is the leading export market of wines from Burgundy.

“While this new measure will affect exports, potentially costing Bourgogne wines up to 100 million euros, it will not bring trade to a sudden halt, as would have been the case with higher tariffs," the trade association noted.

The U.S. remained last year the largest export market for wines produced in the EU, with 4.88 billion euros ($5.36 billion), the Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (European Committee of Wine Businesses), or CEEV, said in a statement. Exports to the U.S. accounted for 28% of the EU’s total wine export value, it said.

The new tariff would create "economic uncertainty and result in layoffs, deferred investments and price increases,” said Marzia Varvaglione, CEEV president. “There is no alternative wine market that could compensate the loss of the U.S. market."

Macron denounced the tariffs as "brutal and unfounded.” In addition to the wine industry, the meeting at the Elysee palace gathered representatives from aeronautics, chemical and metal sectors, electronics, health, luxury, cosmetics and food industry.

Macron said France is likely to be slightly less impacted than some of its neighbours, because exports to the U.S. represent 1.5% of France's GDP, while they represent over 3% for Italy and 4% for Germany. Yet, “it’s not a small thing,” Macron said.

He emphasized that the U.S. economy will first experience the negative impact of the tariffs.

“One thing is certain, with that decision, the U.S. economy and Americans, businesses and citizens, will emerge weaker and poorer than yesterday,” Macron said.

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A glass of Chablis wine is seen in the office of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Bottles of Chablis wine are stored at the wine making facility of winegrower Vincent Dampt, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A tractor driving through the Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

View of Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

View of Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

View of Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A tractor driving through the Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A view of Chablis vineyards in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Winegrower Vincent Dampt talks to the Associated Press, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Winegrower Vincent Dampt serves a glass of Chablis wine in his office, in Chablis, Burgundy region, eastern France, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)