VICTORIA — Low-lying clouds and rain are creating difficult conditions for rescuers searching for a small aircraft with two people on board that is missing in British Columbia.
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria says the Cessna 182 left Calgary at about 10 a.m. Thursday on a route to Kelowna, Hope and Boundary Bay in B.C. with a planned stop in Nanaimo.
The centre says it was alerted by an electronic locator transmitter that was activated about 165 kilometres northeast of Vancouver about an hour after the plane left Calgary.
It says a search is underway in a 189-square-kilometre area between Hope and Merritt.
A Buffalo aircraft and a Cormorant helicopter from Canadian Forces Base Comox returned to the area today and were scheduled to be joined by RCMP search and rescue crews from Hope on the ground.
Spokeswoman Lt. Melissa Kia says while the aircraft are circling at lower elevations, cloud cover is preventing them from being able to see the area from higher altitudes.
The terrain also provides some challenges for rescue crews, she said.
"We're talking about very mountainous areas between Hope and Merritt," Kia said.
Kia said the centre can't release information about the two people aboard for privacy reasons.
"Our thoughts are always with the missing during this time," she said.
