Turkish PM confirms Syria shoots down fighter jet

• NEW: A defense official says "it's possible" Syrians shot down the jet if it got too close
• Turkey's prime minister says he could not confirm reports of Syrian involvement
• A search was under way along the Mediterranean coastline
• Turkish-Syrian relations have deteriorated with uprising against Bashar al-Assad

Istanbul (CNN) -- Turkey's government called an emergency meeting Friday after one of its military jets went missing near the Syrian border.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he could not confirm reports that Syrian anti-aircraft defenses shot down the Turkish jet.

He said Turkish assault boats and helicopters as well as Syrian boats were conducting a search along the Mediterranean coastline between the Turkish province of Hatay and the northwestern Syrian city of Latakia.

"There is no confirmed information that Syria apologized," Erdogan said. "This will become clear in the meeting we are about to have now."

The Turkish military said the plane took off from Malatya Erhac Center and lost radar communication over the sea near Hatay province, which borders Syria.

Erdogan said there was no information on the status of the pilots.

The U.S. military is aware of the downed plane, a Department of Defense official told CNN.

"We would, of course, help with any search and recovery efforts if asked, but it's not a typical area where we would have assets close enough to assist on such short notice," the official said.

Initial reports to the U.S. military indicated that two pilots were on board, and it was possible that one or both may be alive.

The official said the United States had no confirmation the Syrians were responsible for bringing the plane down but added that "it's possible, if the plane got within range of Syria's surface-to-air missile defense system."

Any Syrian involvement in the jet's disappearance could spark a crisis.

Relations between the two neighbors have deteriorated with the bloody uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Erdogan has repeatedly called on al-Assad to step down, and Turkey has withdrawn its diplomats from Damascus.

More than 30,000 Syrian refugees have spilled onto Turkish soil, and Turkey is hosting a number of Syrian opposition groups.

CNN's Ivan Watson and Chris Lawrence contributed to this report.