Plane goes down in sea off Molokai with 3 on board

The Coast Guard launched a search Friday night for a small plane that went down in the ocean north of Molokai with three people aboard.

The Hawaii Patrol Facility at Honolulu Airport notified the Coast Guard at about 7 p.m.that a Cessna 172 had left Molokai for Oahu and disappeared off the radar.

The Cessna is believed to have crashed about 4 miles northwest of Ilio Point, the northwestern tip of the island.

The Coast Guard said that the tower was no longer receiving a radio signal from the plane.

The Coast Guard dispatched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and a C-130 Hercules aircraft from Barbers Point. The Coast Guard cutter Kittiwake was also dispatched to the search area.