Ken Simmons, another adult and two dogs were aboard the plane headed to the Bahamas from the Lantana airport, authorities said.

WEST PALM BEACH — The Coast Guard searched the Atlantic about 20 miles east of Palm Beach for a Piper PA 32 aircraft with two adults and two dogs aboard that crashed into the water Friday afternoon, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration.

One passenger aboard was a longtime Palm Beach County veterinarian who ran an animal hospital and pet daycare center in Greenacres for several years.

The plane is believed to have gone down at about 1 p.m., the FAA said. It said air-traffic controllers alerted it to the crash.

The plane was heading to the Bahamas from the Lantana airport, Jonathan Miller, CEO of Galaxy Aviation, confirmed Friday. Galaxy is Palm Beach County Park Airport's private fixed-base operator.

The National Weather Service's Miami office said a cluster of showers and thunderstorms was over the area at the time the plane disappeared, and that part of the Atlantic was under a marine-weather advisory.

Roy Ellington, hospital manager at VCA Simmons Animal Hospital in Greenacres, confirmed that 30-year veterinarian Ken Simmons was on the plane but did not know who flew with him. He said Simmons had sold his animal hospital and pet daycare center at Lake Worth Road near Military Trail but continues to private veterinary work.

>>RELATED: Simmons played big role in getting memorial for Drake at Lake Worth veterinary hospital

Simmons, a Lake Worth native who studied veterinary medicine at the University of Florida, has often piloted his own plane to pick up pet patients in the Bahamas. In 2012 he treated Drake, the retired Florida Highway Patrol K-9 dog who was shot four times during a robbery. Simmons flew the dog in his own plane to the University of Florida School of Veterinary Medicine, and he and its owner made the difficult decision that the dog was beyond saving.

The Coast Guard said it sent a helicopter, a cutter and a 45-foot response boat to search for the plane. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office also provided a marine unit.

The Coast Guard said in Twitter postings that the plane was a Piper and provided a tail number that showed it was registered to Simmons Pet Properties of Lantana. Databases show the plane is a single-engine Piper Lance II, built in 1979 in Vero Beach. Aircraft sales postings for similar models say the plane is a 28-foot six-seater.

According to the Flight Aware tracking site, the trip was the fourth by that plane in the past two weeks, all to Marsh Harbour, an island about 180 miles east of Palm Beach and about 100 miles north of the Bahamas' capital of Nassau.



Flight aware said the plane left at 1 p.m.



It said the plane flew Jan. 19 from Andros Island to Palm Beach International Airport, and then on to Lantana. It flew Jan. 25 from Lantana to Marsh Harbour and on Monday from there to Palm Beach International Airport

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.