Small medical plane with 4 aboard missing in California

The pilot of the plane radioed an emergency at around 1 a.m. PT (4 a.m. ET) when smoke filled the cockpit, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Four people were aboard; two have been confirmed dead.

The Humbolt County Sheriff’s Office coordinated the search effort, which was initially hampered by marine fog in the area, which prevented a search by air. Before the plane went missing, the pilot reported that he planned to return to Crescent City.

The plane was part of Cal-Ore Life Flight, a small company of about six planes that transports patients throughout Northern California and Oregon.

Four people were aboard the Piper PA31 medical plane as it flew over northern California.

It had the pilot, a nurse, a transport medic and the patient aboard and was headed from Crescent City, Calif., to Oakland, a flight of about 360 miles.

The National Transportation and Safety Board has been notified.

It took off about 12:29 a.m. Friday from Crescent City Airport, Jack McNamara Field bound for Oakland. Don Wharton, a spokesman for parent company REACH Air Medical Services, said nighttime flights are common.

The plane lost contact early in the flight path, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

But radar contact with the plane was lost about five miles northeast of Arcata Airport, the FAA said.

The plane had vanished over the small coastal community of Arcata.

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