Twelve aircraft scour B.C. for missing plane

Search and rescue operations continue after two people went missing Friday

More military aircraft have joined the search over central and eastern B.C. for a missing plane with two people aboard.

Lt. Tony Wright with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria says a Buffalo aircraft and a Cormorant helicopter were in the air at first light on Monday, focusing on a section of Highway 5 north of Kamloops.

Wright says cellular tower and radar information suggest the Vans RV6 two-seat private plane may be somewhere near Blue River, more than 400 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.

The plane was on a flight from Edmonton to Chilliwack when officials were notified Friday that it was overdue.

Wright says two more military aircraft are joining Monday’s search and eight aircraft with the Civil Aviation Search and Rescue Association are also assisting.

Search efforts were challenged by poor weather over the weekend and Wright says low visibility, light rain and snow at higher elevations remain an issue, although he calls conditions typical for this time of year.

“Based on the experience of the search and rescue community, as long as there is a chance of survivability, we are going to keep going,” Wright says. “We have narrowed the search to a northern piece of this corridor of Highway 5 up to Valemount and we’ve got this extra focus around the Blue River area.”

Wright says the search will continue “as long as it’s safe and we have some visibility.”