JOHANNESBURG (AP) >> A non-profit group that manages seven national parks in Africa says one of its employees, an American pilot, is missing after air traffic controllers lost contact with his small plane between Nigeria and Cameroon. 

African Parks said pilot Bill Fitzpatrick reported to the control tower at Douala, Cameroon on Sunday night that he was approaching the city, but the aircraft did not land.  

The Johannesburg-based group says Cameroon and U.S. authorities are helping to search for the plane.

It says the Cessna 172 was flown from the United States to Senegal, where Fitzpatrick picked it up last week. His final destination was to be Congo; Fitzpatrick is employed at the Odzala-Kokoua National Park, which is run by African Parks. The plane was to be used for anti-poaching surveillance.