(CNN) -- There were no survivors among the 12 passengers and two pilots aboard a small passenger airplane that crashed into a mountain just south of the capital of Honduras on Monday morning, officials said. Three Americans were reportedly among the fatalities.
The Let L-410 aircraft, operated by Central American Airways, crashed about 8 a.m., according to the Honduran civil aviation department. The airline is not affiliated with a U.S. airline with the same name.
The plane had taken off from the northern city of San Pedro Sula with a destination of Toncontin International Airport in Tegucigalpa. Once cleared for landing, the pilots began descending toward the airport, at which time communication with the control tower was lost, the department said.
Rescuers were alerted, and the crash site was located south of Tegucigalpa at the top of a mountain, near the town of Santa Ana.
As of Monday afternoon, rescuers had retrieved the remains of 10 people from the wreckage and said another three bodies remained trapped, said Oscar Triminio, spokesman for the fire department. One of the pilots survived the crash but died on the way to the hospital, he said.
Civil aviation authorities gave CNN a list of those on the flight, including three passengers they identified as Americans. CNN could not independently verify their nationalities.
The area where the plane crashed was a mountaintop 2,000 feet (600 meters) above sea level, Triminio.
Crews worked with hydraulic equipment to free the remaining bodies, many of which were mutilated, he said.
The weather was cold, and it was foggy, as it had been since the weekend, he said.
A cause for the crash had not been determined, the civil aviation officials said. The incident is under investigation. CNN
