According to U.S. Civil Air Patrol, radar data shows the plane quickly slowing down and losing altitude, but it still isn’t clear what exactly caused the plane to crash. But authorities had reason to believe the plane had either gone down over land or was still on the sea ice because it was equipped with an emergency transmitter that would have automatically sent the plane’s location to the Coast Guard if it had been exposed to saltwater.

Crews in Alaska are searching for a plane that went missing with 10 people on board Thursday afternoon. Alaska State Troopers received reports at 4 o'clock local time that a Bering Air Caravan heading from Unalakleet to Nome carrying nine passengers and a pilot was overdue, according to an online statement.

Authorities are working to recover the wreckage of a plane crash in western Alaska that killed 10 people while investigators are trying to determine what caused the small commuter aircraft to go down in the icy Bering Sea.