Small Plane from Florida Crashes off Bahamas

The United States Coast Guard is searching for four missing people after a small plane that took off from Florida crashed Monday morning in the ocean near the western Bahamas.

The Federal Aviation Administration first reported the Cessna went missing around 11 a.m. EDT, according to U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Jon-Paul Rios.

"I was told it had gone down in the vicinity of Freeport, Bahamas, about 6 miles (10 km) from the airport," he said.

The plane left the Ormond Beach Municipal Airport in northeastern Florida headed toward the island chain about 60 miles (97 km) off the U.S. coast.

No information about the passengers was available and a helicopter crew was still searching the area, Rios said.