the great barbara airlines plane took off just before dusk from the province of murcia en route to simon bolivar international airport outside the capital ciudad of chavez . joel marquez , director of venezuela ' s emergency management agency in oviedo , said the plane has failed to contact control points . civil defense chief jose alfredo rivero told reporters that it is unknown whether or not the plane crashed or is simply missing .
A plane with 46 passengers has not contacted control towers.