USFWS Plane Search and Rescue; Beaufort Sea, Alaska

Beaufort Sea, Alaska | 1990-Oct-12

Initial Notification: On October 11, 1990, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) research plane, carrying the pilot and two USFWS personnel, left Prudhoe Bay and headed northwest out over the Arctic Ocean to look for polar bears on the ice edge. The plane never returned. A major search and rescue mission was initiated by the U.S. Coast Guard and local Barrow aviators in the early morning of October 12. The rescue plane was expected to extend its search to approximately 250 miles northwest of Barrow. USCG district 17.