Venezuela Plane Crash Kills 46

All 46 people aboard a Venezuelan passenger plane died when it slammed into an Andean mountain, rescue crews confirmed Friday.

"By the way it crashed we can determine there are no survivors," said Gen. Ramon Vinas, head of the civil aviation authority.

Search teams reached the remote site by helicopter and had to lower themselves with ropes onto the "complicated" mountainous terrain, Vinas said.

"The impact was direct. The aircraft is practically pulverized," firefighter Sgt. Jhonny Paz told the Venezuelan television channel Globovision.

The twin-engine aircraft crashed Thursday at an altitude of 4,100 meters (13,500 feet) in an area known as Los Conejos plateau within the Sierra La Culata National Park, officials said.

The flight was reported missing 30 minutes after takeoff on Thursday from the city of Merida. The rescue crews were headed to the mountainous area of Collado del Condor, at an altitude of about 13,000 feet.

Residents in the area reported by phone "that they heard a great crash," said Noel Marquez, the emergency management director in Merida state.

The twin-engine plane, owned by Venezuelan airline Santa Barbara, failed to contact control towers in two cities as expected after it took off en route to Simon Bolivar International Airport near Caracas, said Gen. Antonio Rivero, Venezuela's emergency management director.