Small plane with 5 aboard crashes in rural upstate New York

Emergency responders were searching for a small plane carrying five people that crashed in a rural part of New York state outside the Catskill Park on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-46, crashed around 2 pm, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The National Transportation Safety Board is leading an investigation.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash or whether there were injuries or fatalities. The search was initially focused on an area near Trout Creek, New York, which is about 45 minutes east of Binghamton, New York.

Sarah Taylor Sulick, a public affairs specialist at the NTSB, said that “it’s our understanding that the plane has not yet been located and the local authorities are conducting a search.”

Preliminary information indicated that the plane left from Albert S. Nader Regional Airport in Oneonta, New York, with five people aboard, authorities said.

It was headed to Charleston, West Virginia, when it crashed under unknown circumstances, Sulick said, adding that an NTSB investigator was expected to arrive at the scene Monday.

Dallis Wright, deputy coordinator for Delaware County Emergency Services, said dispatchers received multiple calls Sunday that there was a plane in distress that appeared to be going down.

The National Weather Service in Binghamton issued a request for a spot forecast at around 2:30 pm for an aircraft search in Delaware County.

Multiple responders from local and state law enforcement agencies and fire and emergency services departments were on the ground Sunday, using all-terrain vehicles, searching for the plane, Wright said.

A helicopter that provides critical care to patients throughout New York and Pennsylvania was also on the scene.

Delaware County, in south central New York, is a rural, mountainous region that is home to 19 towns and 10 villages.