Crews Unsure How Much Longer They Can Continue

Searchers in helicopters and boats have so far failed to find any trace of a LET L-410 twin-engine turboprop, reported down with 14 souls aboard Friday off the coast of Venezuela.

The Transaven Airlines plane was flying to the Los Roques archipelago from Caracas. The pilot reported engine problems after takeoff from Simon Bolivar International Airport, notifying air traffic controllers he planned to attempt an emergency landing near a coral reef in the Caribbean Sea.

Authorities believe they know where the plane crashed, about 18 miles off the coast, and are combing a 400-square-mile area for signs of wreckage. Searchers fear the wreckage could have drifted a considerable distance by now, however... and question how much longer they can continue searching.

"They haven't found any material related to the search so far," Gen. Antonio Rivero, chief of Venezuela's emergency management agency, told The Associated Press.

It was not clear whether the search would be continued Wednesday.

FMI: www.transaven.com