Cargo jet missing

(CNN) — Authorities have launched a rescue operation in search of a C-130 cargo jet that was carrying nine people when it disappeared shortly after takeoff Monday night in the southern Philippines, a Philippine military spokesman told CNN.

Col. Bartolome Bacarro said there had been no reports of emergency landings from nearby airports, military camps or beaches, and that authorities were appealing to the public to report having heard any low-flying plane.

Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Pedrito Cadungog told a local radio station that the plane took off from Davao airport, south of Manila, shortly after 8 p.m. (8 a.m. ET).

In their last communication, the control tower told the pilot to change direction and frequency toward Iloilo, halfway between Manila and Davao, he said.