A light aircraft with six people aboard disappeared on Friday night off Brazil's northeastern coast, Brazilian media reported Saturday.

Four Britons and two Brazilian pilots were on board the twin-engine Cessna 310 belonging to Brazil's Aero Star airline, said the Brazilian Air Force.

The plane, which took off from Salvador, capital of Bahia state some 250 km north of its destination, Ilheus, lost contact with the control tower just nine minutes before it was to land at the coastal town, local media quoted airline officials as saying.

Its last contact was at 5:43 p.m. local time (2043 GMT). The pilot had said he was making a visual approach to the Ilheus airport in the final contact with the air control officials, said Aero Star authorities.

It was raining when the Cessna vanished from radar screens, they said.

Three helicopters sent by Aero Star and Brazil's Coast Guard, backed by Bahia state police and air rescue units, were searching for survivors.

(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2008)