VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Search and rescue crews are looking for a small plane somewhere between Merritt and Hope.
The Cessna 182 went missing Thursday morning and had two people on board. The Joint Rescue Coordination Center says the plane’s Electronic Locator Transmitter (ELT) was activated yesterday morning.
“That locator was activated approximately 90 nautical miles northeast of Vancouver,” explains Lieutenant Navy Melissa Kia.
That beacon gave the JRCC the exact second of the last transmission from the plane.
“Immediately after receiving this ELT, we launched two aircraft from Canadian Forces Base Comox — a Cormorant style helicopter and a Buffalo style aircraft — to start searching an area from Merritt to Hope.”
Kia says the plane had more than one locator in it. “They can be initiated by a person, or they can be initiated by a hard landing.”
The aircraft took off from an airport just outside of Calgary before heading west.
The search is still ongoing but has been hampered by bad weather.
“We have very low-lying cloud in the search area, as well as rain,” explains Kia. “The cloud continues to be below 4,000 feet. For our spotters in the planes and in the helicopters, that’s unfortunate because this terrain that we’re looking at is incredibly mountainous. The search area comprises zones that are above 5,500 feet.”
Kia notes the JRCC isn’t only depending on aircraft in this search.
“We are also actively liaising with our partners in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well with ground search and rescue out of Hope. Those people don’t depend on aircraft to move them in and out of a region. They move around by road. They are also actively looking for this Cessna aircraft.”
– With files from Martin MacMahon
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