BRASILIA, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Four people survived but 20 were missing and feared dead after a small plane crashed into a river in Brazil's Amazon jungle during bad weather on Saturday, the airline and rescue workers said.

The missing included four babies, Paulo Roberto Pereira, a spokesman for regional charter airline Manaus Aero Taxi, told Reuters.

There were 22 passengers and two crew members aboard the Bandeirantes turboprop plane made by Brazil's Embraer <EMBR3.SA><ERJ.N>.

Brazil had two major plane crashes in 2006 and 2007, raising concerns about the safety of air travel in Latin America's largest country.

The wreckage of the Bandeirantes plane was found in the Manacapuru river some 120 km (74 miles) south of Manaus, the capital of Amazon state. A helicopter tried to lift it from the water but had to suspend the operation because of the weather, an Air Force official said.

Divers planned to search the river for bodies, a spokesman for the local fire brigade said.

After the plane left the city of Coari, the pilots wanted to come back because of bad weather, Pereira said.

"They requested authorization to return and then air traffic control lost contact," he said. (Reporting by Raymond Colitt and Alberto Alerigi; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

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