LUDINGTON, Mich. — A medical transport plane carrying five people crashed into Lake Michigan today and one person was rescued, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.

Petty Officer Nathaniel Parks said the plane went down shortly after 10 a.m. a few miles off the shore of Ludington, a resort town on Michigan's west coast. A passenger was rescued about two hours later.

The Cessna 206 left Alma, about 150 miles northwest of Detroit, this morning en route to Rochester, Minn., said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory. Parks said the crash was reported by a witness as well as a distress signal from the plane via satellite.

A map of the plane's flight path from flightaware.com suggests problems developed about one-third of the way into the flight when the westbound plane doubled back over Lake Michigan and then had a steep decline in altitude near Ludington.

The plane is registered to Alma-based Freed Construction.

The plane's owner, Carol Freed, told The Grand Rapids Press that people on board were taking one patient to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Freed told the paper everyone on the plane was from the Alma area.

A search for the other four people on board was under way, and no other details were immediately available.