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.

Authorities are searching part of Alaska's western coast for a plane that went missing while carrying 10 people