Plane from North Carolina with 3 aboard missing in New York

JAMESTOWN: Authorities searched Monday for a

small plane

carrying three people that lost contact with

air traffic controllers

in western New York.


The twin-engine plane carrying a pilot and two passengers was near

Jamestown, New York

, when it was last heard from shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday,

Chautauqua County Sheriff

James Quattrone said. The plane was headed to Jamestown Regional Airport from

North Carolina

, he said.

The search for the plane was halted around 1 a.m. and resumed after daylight, authorities said.

Weather may have been a factor in the plane's disappearance. The Jamestown area was experiencing wind gusts of about 25 to 30 mph with light snow Sunday night.

The

Federal Aviation Administration

said in a statement Monday that the Grumman American GA-7 was about a mile from the airport when controllers lost contact. It departed from Burlington Alamance Regional Airport in Burlington, North Carolina.