US plane disappears in Dominican Republic

A small plane disappeared in the Dominican Republic with two people on board, authorities said Thursday.

The plane took off from the capital Santo Domingo Wednesday night, heading for Punta Cana, a popular tourist destination 205km to the east.

At 10.42pm local time (0242 GMT Thursday), the twin-engine Hawker Siddeley took off from the Las Americas International Airport, but never reached its destination, the Dominican Aviation Institute (IDAC) confirmed.

"A flight plan will never be fulfilled," the IDAC said in a statement, adding the agency's technicians and international specialists were investigating the incident.

The IDAC didn't reveal the names or nationalities of the two people in the AE Hawker 125, with a US registration number N600.

The plane disappeared on the radar screen 10 minutes after taking off, local media reported.

At the end of 2012, two people died when their small plane crashed in a mountainous region in the municipality of Constanza, in La Vega province, 170km north of the capital.