US authorities are looking for a small plane carrying 10 people that has been reported missing in the state of Alaska.

The US Coast Guard for the Alaska region said a Cessna Caravan craft was 12 miles (19km) offshore on a flight from Unalakleet to Nome when "its position was lost".

The two cities are some 146 miles from each other across the Norton Sound, an inlet of the Bering Sea on Alaska's western coast.

Search and rescue crews "are working to get to the last known coordinates" of the flight, state officials said in a statement.

They said they had been notified of an "overdue" aircraft operated by the airline Bering Air at 16:00 local time on Thursday (01:00 GMT).

The 10 people on board comprised nine passengers and a pilot, the update from the Alaska Department of Public Safety said. There was no information immediately available about who was on board.

The volunteer fire department in the landing city Nome said the pilot had told air traffic controllers that "he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway to be cleared".

David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air, was quoted by Sun UK as saying that the aircraft left an airstrip in Unalakleet at 2:37 pm before officials lost all contact less than an hour later.

It was 12 miles offshore when it was last sighted, according to the US Coast Guard.

Nome Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement: ?We are currently responding to a report of a missing Bering Air caravan.

?We are doing an active ground search from Nome and from White Mountain.

?Due to weather and visibility, we are limited on air search at the current time.

?National Guard, Coast Guard, and Troopers have been notified and are active in the search.? (Pieced together from various media reports)

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