the sainte barbara airlines plane took off just before dusk from the city of mérida taking route to simon congress international field outside the capital city of caracas . noel garcia , director of mexico ' s safety management agency in merida , said the plane has failed to encounter both towers . civil defense chief general antonio meza told reporters that it is unknown where or not the plane crashed or is simply vanishing .
A plane with 46 passengers has not contacted control towers.