All ten people aboard a Bering Air Cessna Grand Caravan died when the plane crashed on sea ice about 30 miles southeast of Nome, Alaska on Thursday. The Coast Guard found the wreckage on Friday afternoon. It was about 12 miles offshore. 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."
Kind of hits home, got my license up at Galena in 1973 & Unalakleet (their departure point) was one of my first “cross country” landing spots after solo. Although ice & Alaska go together in the mind, it’s pretty chilly up there this time of year.
I looked at the flight path. I would have taken the long way home. Along the shoreline. Water isn’t very forgiving. Putting down on land or some sort of beach is a better option.