Passenger Jet Crash In Venezuela

A passenger plane crashed in remote western Venezuela with 152 passengers aboard early Tuesday, an aviation official said. It was unclear whether anyone survived.

The West Caribbean Airways plane was headed from Panama to Martinique in the Caribbean when its pilot reported engine trouble with both engines to the Caracas airport, said Francisco Paz, president of the National Aviation Institute.

That was about 3:30 a.m., reports CBS News' Phil Gunson in Caracas. Then contact was lost with the plane, while it was in the area of Machiques, in the western state of Zulia.

No wreckage has been found yet, says Gunson.

"Residents in the area said they heard an explosion," Paz said.

Interior Minister Jesse Chacon said that based on reports from military helicopters and planes flying over the area, "it's very unlikely there could be survivors."

The plane had been chartered for tourists, and 152 passengers were listed on the flight plan, Paz said. It wasn't immediately clear how many crew members accompanied them.

The plane was believed to have gone down between two farms in the remote zone.

West Caribbean Airways, a Colombian airline, began service in 1998.

In March, a twin-engine plane operated by the same airline crashed during takeoff from the Colombian island of Old Providence, killing eight people and injuring the other six passengers.

Venezuela itself has seen two airplane crashes in the past year, both military. In December, a military plane crashed in a mountainous area near Caracas, killing all 16 people on board. In August 2004, a military plane crashed into a mountain in central Venezuela, killing 25 people.