Update: Search called off for missing plane between Edmonton and Chilliwack

Update: Search called off for missing plane between Edmonton and Chilliwack

Search efforts were concentrated along the Highway 5 corridor between Valemount and Kamloops

  • Sep. 20, 2018 12:00 a.m.

UPDATE:

The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre says it has made the difficult decision to call off its search of a small plane that went missing in central British Columbia one week ago.

Over the last seven days, both military and volunteer civilian aircraft have spent about 320 hours flying in challenging weather conditions searching for the plane, its pilot and passenger.

Rescuers concentrated in the region between Kamloops and Valemount, and covered more than 14,000 square kilometres in the area surrounding the last known location and filed flight plan of the missing plane.

The search has been handed over to the RCMP as a missing persons case.

The missing plane is a white RV6, a home-built, low-wing, single-engine aircraft that can carry no more than two people.

It was reported overdue last Friday on a flight from Edmonton to Chilliwack.

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Original:

Crews aboard two military aircraft, an RCMP helicopter and five civilian planes are keeping a close watch for an incoming storm over central British Columbia as the search for a small plane moves into a seventh day.

Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokeswoman Katelyn Moores says search efforts are concentrated along the Highway 5 corridor between Valemount and Kamloops, looking for any sign of the plane with its pilot and passenger.

RELATED: Aircraft hunt for plane reported overdue on flight from Edmonton to Chilliwack

They were reported overdue last Friday on a flight from Edmonton to Chilliwack.

Moores says weather has been good in the search area but that is expected to change to rain, with snow and ice forecast at higher elevations.

The search is focused around the community of Blue River, after cellular tower and radar data led them there soon after the plane disappeared, and Moores says some of that area in the higher elevations is due to be hit by snow.

RELATED: Plane missing since Nov. 2017 located in Glacier National Park

The missing plane is a white RV6, a home-built, low-wing, single-engine aircraft that can carry no more than two people.

The Canadian Press

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