The plane was discovered Friday afternoon by a U.S. Coastguard helicopter after vanishing from radar on Thursday. Officials lost contact with the plane about an hour after it took off from Unalakleet

The Cessna Caravan left Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., and officials lost contact with it less than an hour later, according to David Olson, director of operations for Bering Air. The aircraft was 12 miles (19 kilometers) offshore, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

A Bering Air flight with nine passengers and its pilot went missing in Alaska after the plane suffered "some kind of event" and "rapidly lost altitude and speed" on Thursday