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MOAB, Utah (AP) -- A small plane with four passengers aboard apparently crashed in the La Sal Mountains of southern Utah on Thursday night.
KCYN Radio reports that the Piper Arrow, flying from Longmont, Colo., to Las Vegas, was last heard from around 8:30 p.m.
The four-seater plane broadcast a brief call for help just before it disappeared from radar and is believed to have crashed about 20 miles southeast of Moab, said Chad Morris, spokesman for the Colorado Civil Air Patrol.
Emergency crews from San Juan County, the sheriff's posse from Montrose County in Colorado and other surrounding jurisdictions joined the search. The Colorado Civil Air Patrol sent 12 aircraft and 40 volunteers.
The La Sal Mountains are Utah's second-highest range with peaks topping 12,000 feet. The San Juan County sheriff's office said it could take all day to locate and reach the crash site. The weather was calm Thursday night, and the mountains were covered with light snow.
The names of those aboard weren't available.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)