SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Authorities in the Dominican Republic were searching Thursday for any sign of a small jet registered in the U.S. that never reached its destination after taking off from the capital.

The control tower at the Las Americas Airport in Santo Domingo lost contact with the twin-engine Hawker Siddeley shortly after it took off late Wednesday with a flight plan to Punta Cana, about 125 miles to the east, said Hector Olivo, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority.

The plane, registered to a company based in Dover, Delaware, never reached Punta Cana and authorities had been unable to locate the aircraft or any wreckage, Olivo said.

The Special Airport Security Agency said the pilot and co-pilot were the only two people on board.

In October 2011, a plane disappeared from an airport north of the capital and was located several days later hidden in a forest in Venezuela.

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