A single-engine Cessna crashed in a forested area southwest of Hana Airport on Maui yesterday, apparently killing the lone occupant.

Maui police said the Cessna 172 is owned by Maui Aviators LLC, a flight school and aircraft rental company based in Kahului. State records show Maui Aviators is headed by Jon Muralt of Pukalani.

Company officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Diana Joubert, spokeswoman with the Federal Aviation Administration in Los Angeles, said the plane left Kahului Airport at 11:34 a.m. yesterday, but she said she did not know its destination. Joubert said the crash was reported at about 3:52 p.m.

She said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident and it was too early to say what caused the plane to crash.

"As far as we know, there's one person on board," who apparently died, Joubert said. "It's basically right now under unknown circumstances."

The plane was mostly intact and still smoldering when rescue crews arrived at the crash site. But a body was not located in the compacted wreckage.

Joubert said she did not know the gender of the plane's occupant or whether that person was employed by Maui Aviators or had rented the aircraft.

The crash took place about 5 miles to 6 miles above the Hana Airport, on a heavily wooded ridge at the 3,100-foot elevation of Haleakala. The site is accessible only by air.

Maui Fire Department officials said they initially got a report of a brushfire, spotted by a passing pilot. The department was about to launch its helicopter with a water bucket when word was received from a private helicopter pilot that the fire was caused by a small-plane crash.

Capt. Mark Paranada said they then switched to rescue gear and left the Kahului fire station just after 4 p.m., arriving at the crash site about 15 minutes later.

A helicopter hired by the National Park Service for miconia eradication heard about the crash and was hovering over the wreckage to help guide the fire department to the site.

The Cessna hit the ridge nose-first in a "high-impact crash," Paranada said. "It didn't look like it hit anything except where it piled into the ridge." There was no damage to surrounding trees.

A firefighter was lowered to the ground on an 80-foot-long line and was able to briefly look into one side of the wreckage. Because the plane's propeller and nose were compacted, Paranada said it was impossible to tell if anyone was inside.

He described the ridge as rising at 70 to 85 degrees, with the plane wreckage about 500 feet from the top of the ridge. The plane did not slide down from the impact point.

Darkness and unstable terrain made a more thorough search impossible, but Paranada said he would be surprised if anyone had survived.

"There's nothing to indicate anyone is out there," he said.

Police said crews plan to return to the scene today.

Scott Ishikawa, Department of Transportation spokesman, said there didn't appear to be any signs of trouble before the crash.

Yesterday's crash was the second incident this year involving a Maui Aviators' aircraft.

On Feb. 6, a student pilot flying a Cessna 152 from Hana struck several trees as it made a rough landing in a field in Nahiku after experiencing engine problems. The pilot was not injured, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com and Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.