SAR scour forest floor

Photo: Excel Flight Training

The missing aircraft was last seen leaving Cranbrook Thursday.

UPDATE: 4:20 p.m.

Kimberley Search and Rescue spent four hours Saturday scouring a forested area for the small plane and its two occupants that went missing on June 8, but came up empty handed. 

Based on a witness report, military aircracft circled the area near Kimberley while five search and rescue members looked on the forest floor.

Kimberley is just 25 kilometres northwest of Cranbrook, where the plane departed from. 

After four hours of searching, the team came back without finding any sign of the missing plane.

"We are called when there is something of interest on the ground," said Peter Reid, search manager with Kimberley Search and Rescue. "That's all we did today."

While Cranbrook Search and Rescue has been called out to assist with on-the-ground searches for the plane, this was the first time Kimberley SAR was utilized. 

ORIGINAL: 10:20 a.m.

The search for the two people whose small plane went missing nine days ago on a flight from Cranbrook to Kamloops continues Saturday.

The plane was piloted by 21-year-old Alex Simons, a recent graduate of Excel Flight Training in Lethbridge, Alta, while 24-year-old Sidney Robillard, Simons' girlfriend, was the lone passenger.

Simons had rented the plane from Excel Flight Training on June 8, departed Lethbridge and arrived in Cranbrook to refuel that afternoon. The couple left Cranbrook just after 3 p.m., but never arrived at their destination in Kamloops. 

For the past nine days, Royal Canadian Air Force crews, as well as civilian pilots, have been scouring the more than 400 kilometres of mountainous area between Cranbrook and Kamloops for any sign of the plane. 

The white plane may be more difficult to spot if it landed in a snow-covered area. 

Six military aircraft are back on the search Saturday, along with seven planes from the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association.

CASARA is a group of volunteer pilots, navigators, spotters, radio operators and administration staff that assist the Canadian Forces in rescue operations.