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Four Killed In Crash Of Oakland-Bound Medical Transport Plane

EUREKA (CBS SF) -- All four of the people on board a medical flight that crashed in Humboldt County Friday morning while headed from Crescent City to Oakland have been confirmed dead, according to a statement from Cal-Ore Life Flight.

"This is one of the saddest moments in our history," a company spokesperson said in a prepared statement this afternoon. "We have been told there were no survivors."

A Humboldt County Sheriff's Office search and rescue team located the crash site at about 10 a.m. on the property of a private timber company in the unincorporated Crannell area north of Arcata.

The Piper Cheyenne plane associated with Reach Air Medical Services and Cal-Ore Life Flight left Crescent City Airport for Oakland International Airport at 12:29 a.m.

Four people were on board including a pilot, a medic, nurse and patient, Cal-Ore officials said.

The plane went missing near Arcata after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit at about 1 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The pilot notified air traffic controllers that he was going to return to Crescent City and Cal-Ore officials said they lost contact with the pilot at 1:05 a.m.

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