Four People On Board

A Cessna with two women and two men on board went missing on Saturday, when it failed to arrive at Meribula, on the far south coast of Australia, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). AMSA says it began searching the entire area between Melbourne-where the flight departed-and Merimbula, but is hoping to receive information from the public which might narrow down the search area.

The twin-engine Cessna 337 Skymaster (file illustration, below) left Moorabbin airport at midday (AEDT) Saturday bound for Merimbula on the NSW south coast, but failed to arrive around 4 p.m. (AEDT) as planned, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The search, involving four helicopters and five planes, initially focused on the Orbost area in eastern Victoria, according to AMSA spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins, "We had some credible radar reports overnight that put the possible last known position of the aircraft in the Orbost area."

"These reports however are unverified, but they suit the time, the track, and the speed of the missing aircraft." AMSA says it has received reports of a possible sighting and Jiggins says she hopes there will be more information early in the week.

"No matter how small the information is that the public has, it may be very useful to us," she said.

Andy Campbell says the pilot was experienced but had had a break from flying until buying the plane a few months ago.

"If they'd landed and they were safe with the aircraft intact, the radios would still work and they would assumedly have mobile phones on them," he said.

"So you'd assume that they could have used those facilities to contact someone but that's not been the case."

FMI: www.amsa.gov.au/