Authorities believe they have found the wreckage of an aircraft carrying 10 people which went missing Thursday in Alaska, officials said Friday. At least three bodies were discovered in the wreckage.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A small commuter plane that crashed in western Alaska on its way to the hub community of Nome was located Friday on sea ice and all 10 people on board died, authorities said.

Rescuers in Alaska continued to scour the Seward Peninsula on Friday, desperately searching for a small plane carrying 10 people that did not arrive in Nome as scheduled, authorities said. The Bering Air Caravan flight, from Unalakleet to Nome, was reported overdue to Alaska State Troopers at 4 p.m. local time, the law enforcement agency said.

The Cessna, operated by Bering Air, went off the radar and lost radio contact minutes before it was scheduled to land in Nome.

The Bering Air plane was reported missing on its way from Unalakleet to Nome, remote communities south of the Arctic Circle.

Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard, said rescuers searching the aircraft’s last known location by helicopter spotted the wreckage and lowered two rescue swimmers to investigate.

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

The plane operated by Bering Air was carrying nine passengers and a pilot from Unalakleet to Nome in northwestern Alaska when it went missing about 12 miles offshore, officials say.