Missing Plane with 10 People Experienced 'Rapid Loss' in Altitude and Speed Before Disappearing in Alaska: Authorities

New details are emerging after a plane carrying 10 people disappeared mid-flight over Alaska.

Nine passengers and one pilot were aboard the Bering Air Caravan flight when it was reported overdue at around 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, Feb. 6, while heading from Unalakleet to Nome, according to a previous statement from the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

The aircraft experienced an event around 3:18 p.m. that caused the plane to experience "a rapid loss in elevation and a rapid loss in speed," Benjamin McIntyre-Coble, an officer with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Office of Incident Management, said at a news conference on Friday, Feb. 7. Authorities are still unsure what caused this.

The Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center in Juneau received an alert notice that the plane was overdue around 4:30 p.m., McIntyre-Coble added.

Additionally, an "item of interest" has been found by another plane participating in the search efforts, but McIntyre-Coble said authorities could not immediately speak to exactly what that item was.

A search and rescue mission is still active. Authorities said all 10 individuals on the plane were adults.

All of the passengers’ families had been notified by 9 a.m. on Friday, according to the NVFD.

“To the families and loved ones of those who are missing, just know that we are using every available resource and working closely with the other teams, and every request we've made for federal or state assistance has been granted,” Lieutenant Ben Endres of Alaska State Troopers said at the press conference.

The plane’s last known position was “in the vicinity of Norton Sound, approximately 30 miles southeast of Nome,” the U.S. Coast Guard said in a news release on Friday, Feb. 7.

The aircraft was 12 miles offshore at the time of the incident, the U.S. Coast Guard added in a thread on X.

The Nome Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) said, "The pilot of the plane told Anchorage Air Traffic Control that he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway to be clear.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The fire department initially stated on Facebook that the air search was initially limited “due to weather and visibility.”

By Friday, the NVFD said authorities learned that weather conditions were expected to be stable “for the next 24 hours.”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is monitoring the search for the plane, Clint Johnson, Chief of the NTSB’s Alaska Regional Office, said at Friday's press conference.