ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A Cypriot airliner carrying 115 passengers and six crew members crashed north of Athens on Sunday, and emergency services and residents were searching for possible survivors amid the wreakage, officials said.

The Helios Airways flight was headed from Larnaca, Cyprus to Athens International Airport when it crashed at about 12:20 p.m. near the coastal town of Grammatikos, about 25 miles north of the Greek capital.

It was unclear why the plane crashed or if terrorism was involved. After losing contact with Athens' control tower, the Greek air force scrambled two F-16 fighter jets.

Witnesses said they saw the plane being followed by the Greek air force jets when it went down in a gorge.

"There is wreakage everywhere. I am here, things here are very difficult, they are indescrible," Grammatikos Mayor George Papageorgiou said.

"I am looking at back tail. The fuselage has been destroyed. It fell into a chasm and there are pieces. All the residents are here trying to help."

"The plane crashed around 400 meters from homes in the area," said Miltiadis Merkouris, a spokesman for the Grammatikos municipality.

Greek radio and television stations reported that the air force pilots saw no movement in the cockpit of the plane before the crash and it was unclear if the two pilots were in their seats.

The plane did not respond to radio calls, the reports said.

Media reports also said one of the pilots may have fallen ill or unconscious, but this could not be immediately confirmed.

Helios Airways was founded in 1999 as Cyprus' first independent airline.

It operates a fleet of Boeing 737 jets between Cyprus and London, Athens, Sofia, Dublin and Strasbourg in France.