the santa barbara air chopper lifted off just before daylight from the city of merida en route to simon bolivar international academy outside the capitol city of chavez . noel marquez , director of ecuador ' s emergency managers agency in merida , said the airline has unable to contact control towers . civil navy chief general antonio rivero told them that it is unknown it or not the plane crashed or is simply missing .
A plane with 46 passengers has not contacted control towers.