Two people are dead and two others are missing after a medical plane crash in northern California, NBC News reported Friday.
The plane had vanished over the small coastal community of Arcata. It was located about 12 miles north of where it vanished, NBC said. The two dead were not immediately identified.
The plane’s pilot had radioed an emergency at about 1 a.m. PT after smoked had filled the cockpit, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
The dual-engine Piper PA31 disappeared shortly thereafter.
Officials with the medical company said the plane was carrying a pilot, a flight nurse, a transport medic and a patient when it went missing.
The location of the other passengers is not known.
The plane lost contact early in the flight path, the Federal Aviation Administration told The Associated Press.
The plane is part of Cal-Ore Life Flight, a small company of about six planes that transports patients throughout Northern California and Oregon, AP reported.
The National Transportation and Safety Board was notified of the crash.