'We'll continue searching'

Photo: Excel Flight Training

The missing aircraft was last seen departing from Cranbrook.

The search continues for a missing Piper Warrior aircraft and its two occupants, who failed to show up in Kamloops at their scheduled time.

Seven civilian CASARA planes and five military aircraft are in the air today between Cranbrook and Kamloops, looking for the plane that disappeared on the afternoon of June 8.

The plane was piloted by 21-year-old Alex Simons. Simons' girlfriend, 24-year-old Sidney Robillard, was the lone passenger.

Upwards of 70 searchers have now gone over the entire 400-kilometre search area once, without spotting the missing plane.

“We're going over the entire search area again, and we're looking at it multiple times, and we won't be satisfied that we've searched everything until we've had a look at everything from three different levels and different angles,” said Capt. Dennis Power, 19 Wing public affairs officer.

Pilots looking for the missing plane began their search at 1,500 feet above ground level. The second pass takes place at 1,000 feet, followed by a 500-foot pass. These heights aren't fixed though, as cloud cover will change the best elevation for searching.

“If you're in the mountains and you have clouds at 500, there's no point in doing 1,000 or 1,500 because you won't be able to see through the clouds,” Power said.

Power says the many variables involved make it difficult to determine a timeline for completing the search.

“Cloud cover continues to be a challenge in some areas,” he said.

“Until we've searched the area completely, and we're satisfied that we have seen everything, we'll continue searching."