The search for a missing airplane that went missing en route to Victoria, B.C., has now been focused on the mountainous region between Penticton and Chilliwack, military personnel say.
Maj. James Pierotti of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre told reporters in Victoria that if the aircraft had gotten into trouble at some point west of Chilliwack, it would have been able to talk to an air traffic controller.
"That is why we're not focused on the Lower Mainland; we are focused more on the mountainous region."
The JRCC received a report of a missing aircraft late Tuesday when the single-engine Piper PA24 did not arrive as expected.
The privately owned plane carrying four adult males left Penticton around 5:10 p.m. and was scheduled to arrive in Victoria approximately two-and-a-half hours later.
No communication from the aircraft had been received and it did not appear on radar in the Vancouver area.
The Kamloops Flight Information Centre reported the aircraft missing around 9:44 p.m. A Buffalo search and rescue aircraft from 19 Wing at CFB Comox was dispatched immediately, with the initial search conducted at night. A second helicopter was added Wednesday morning.
Pierotti also noted that wildfires in the region were causing problems for the searchers.
"We are looking for possible fires from an aircraft crash. When we see smaller fires in the search area, we have to check them out."
The plane did have an emergency locator transmitter, but crews have not picked up any transmission so far.
Civil Air Search and Rescue, a volunteer group that searches for lost aircraft, is also aiding the effort.
Names of the missing pilot and passengers have not been released.
