Weather, terrain a challenge as crews look for missing plane

VICTORIA (CP) — Low cloud and heavy snowfall haven’t stopped the search for a small plane with two people aboard in southeastern British Columbia.

Victoria Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokeswoman Katelyn Moores says the search area has been narrowed to a region 18 kilometres outside Revelstoke.

The grid was refined based on more complete information from radar and the cellphone tower that picked up a signal from the pilot’s phone at about the same time the plane was reported missing on Saturday.

Moores said a Buffalo aircraft is flying over the most likely flight path of the missing plane, while two Parks Canada ground search-and- rescue teams focus on specific locations northeast of Revelstoke.

The plane was on a flight from Penticton, to Edmonton when it vanished.

The pilot is Dominic Neron, 28, from Spruce Grove, Alta., and his girlfriend Ashley Bourgeault, who is 31.

Moores says search efforts are expected to continue despite heavy snow.

It is an area Eldon Gjesdal, a pilot who sold Neron’s plane to him in the spring, said is challenging to navigate.

“It’s just very rugged. The valleys are very closed in and if it’s the Rogers Pass in the Revelstoke area, it’s rough terrain,” Gjesdal said.

Gjesdal said Neron bought his 1963 Mooney from him after flying for about two years. He eventually wanted to get his commercial licence.