Search for missing plane, two passengers ‘reduced’: military spokesman

KELOWNA, B.C. – A military spokesman says the search for a small plane and two passengers missing in British Columbia has been reduced.

Rear Admiral Art McDonald says more than 70 Royal Canadian Air Force personnel and 137 volunteers have scoured more than 37,500 kilometres searching for the Piper Warrior plane since it was reported missing on June 8.

The aircraft was flying from Lethbridge, Alta., to Kamloops and two people are believed to have been on board — pilot Alex Simons, 21, of Kamloops, and his girlfriend Sydney Robillard, 21, of Lethbridge.

The plane was last spotted in Cranbrook, in southeastern B.C., where the pair stopped for fuel.

McDonald says the aircraft was equipped with an electronic locating device, but no viable signals were detected during the search.

He says a further search is not planned unless new evidence emerges indicating a strong likelihood of locating survivors.