A sea search was under way for a pilot and paramedic today after an air ambulance crashed off the west coast of Scotland last night.
The fixed-wing Islander went down on its way to call at around 12.15am, during its flight from Glasgow to Machrihanish, on the Mull of Kintyrel.
Wreckage of the aircraft was recovered in the sea, eight miles from Campbeltown Airport, off the Mull.
A statement from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "A search began at 12.15 this morning for a light aircraft after it disappeared from radar following its final approach into Campbeltown. Clyde Coastguard began to co-ordinate the search after they were informed by airport control."
Three lifeboats, two helicopters and warship HMS Penzance were at the scene this morning.
Brett Cunningham, Coastguard area operations manager, said: "We are in the process of conducting a thorough search of the area. Wreckage has been found at the site where the aircraft was last seen."
He said weather conditions were reasonable in the area and he could not speculate on the cause of the crash.
Adrian Lucas, chief executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service, said the incident was a sad day for the service, but he was hopeful of finding survivors.
He said: "We're still looking extensively in that area in the hope of finding our member of staff and the pilot."
"We've been with the family all night. This is very much a waiting game and very difficult for them to deal with."
Mr Lucas described the flight as "relatively routine", adding that Islanders had been extensively used by the service for years.
"We're not speculating about anything to do with the aircraft. This is very much a rescue operation. We're working extensively with our colleagues in the RAF and the RNLI [Royal National Lifeboat Institute] and we are just hoping for optimistic news as the day wears on."
The Islander is one of three aircraft operated for the Scottish Ambulance Service by Loganair, based in Glasgow, Lerwick and Kirkwall.
A spokesman for the company said it was currently liaising with the Air Accident Investigation Bureau. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the families at this time," he said.
The crash is the second air tragedy to have struck the service within 10 years. In May 1995, a crash on Shetland claimed the life of the pilot, and injured a doctor and nurse. The plane, which was also a Loganair Britten-Norman Islander, was returning to Lerwick, on the Shetland Islands, and crashed close to Tingwall airstrip after taking an injured oil worker to hospital in Inverness.