Atlantis Airplane en route from Dominican Republic to NY is missing

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) - A plane en route to New York with 11 people on board disappeared after taking off from the Dominican Republic, authorities said Tuesday.

The Atlantis Airlines plane, which was expected to make a refueling stop in the Bahamas, sent an emergency signal before disappearing from the radar 35 minutes after takeoff on about 3:30 p.m. Monday, said Jose Tomas Perez, director of the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute.

The U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies were searching in the Atlantic Ocean about 4 miles (6 kilometers) west of West Caicos island but has not found any wreckage, said Nick Ameen, a spokesman.

The plane, a multiengine Britton-Norman Islander, departed from Santiago in the Dominican Republic, he said.