Search for wreckage atop volcano after plane with two Australians goes missing in Philippines

The Cessna 340 with former Santos employees Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam lost contact on Saturday

Two Australian men are feared dead after a plane lost contact in the Philippines with four people on board, as crews work to verify if a wreckage spotted near the crater of a restive volcano is the missing plane.

The plane, which was bound for the capital Manila, lost contact with air traffic control on Saturday, three minutes after it departed Bicol international airport in Albay province, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said in a statement.