10:55 update
This morning at about 10 a.m. Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office search and rescue teams located a crash site on private timber company in the Cranell area of Humboldt County which is located to the north of McKinleyville. At this time at least two fatalities have been confirmed. National Transportation Safety Board has been notified.
Original news release at 8:15 a.m.:
This is all of the preliminary information we have on a missing plane in the Arcata area:
The pilot of a twin-engine Piper PA31 declared an emergency due to smoke in the cockpit around 1 a.m. Friday.
The plane was flying from Crescent City to Oakland.
The pilot indicated he was going to return to Crescent City.
Radar contact with the aircraft was lost about 5 miles northeast of Arcata Airport.
We believe there were three people on board.
The Humboldt County Sheriff is searching for the aircraft.
The tail number is N661TC.