Brasilia-120, The twin-engine turboprop aircraft.(Xinhua/AFP File Photo)

(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

    BRASILIA, May 15 (Xinhuanet) -- A plane crashed in the Amazon area in northern Brazil Friday night, killing all the 33 people aboard,Rico Linhas Aereas, a regional airline and the plane's owner, said Saturday.

    "The rescue team told us, sadly, that there were no survivors,"a company spokesman said.

    The plane carrying 30 passengers and three crew lost contact with the control tower at 6:30 p.m. (2330 GMT) Friday when it was about 16 km from its destination, Manaus, capital of the northwestern Amazonas state.

    The wreckage of the Brasilia-120, a twin-engine turboprop aircraft, was spotted by search helicopters in an area of dense jungle, said the spokesman.

    The plane, taking off from the town of Sao Paulo de Olivenca near the border with Colombia, had been scheduled to land at Manaus' Eduardo Gomes International Airport.

    Rescuers were recovering the bodies and began bringing them out,according to the spokesman. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

    In August 2002, another Brasilia-120 owned by Rico Linhas Aereas crashed near Rio Branco in the western Amazon state of Acre,killing 23 people. Enditem