The wreckage of a small plane that went missing more than a week ago was located Wednesday in the southern Okanagan of British Columbia as the RCMP confirmed all four people on board had died.
Transportation Safety Board spokesman Bill Yearwood said the single-engine Piper PA-24 Comanche was found near Apex Mountain, which is about 30 kilometres southwest of Penticton.
A spotter flying in a Buffalo aircraft noticed broken trees and located the crash scene Wednesday morning. A Cormorant helicopter later flew over the area and confirmed it was the missing Piper Commanche, said Asst. Search Master Marc Archambault of the Canadian Armed Forces.
The plane was upside-down in thick forest. Police and a coroner riding in an RCMP helicopter landed near the site and found the bodies inside.
The plane's disappearance prompted a massive search that covered 18,000 square kilometres of southwestern B.C. with the help of 20 military and civilian aircraft with the Provincial Emergency Program. Efforts were hampered by smoke from nearby forest fires.
Other aircraft also joined the search after friends of the passengers offered a $10,000 reward.
Rescue officials complained private planes taking to the air with hopes of that reward were putting aircraft involved in the official search at risk.
The families of the victims are now planning funerals.
"We'll be in mourning for a few days," said Kevin Thomas, whose best friend was on board the plane. "There's nothing more you can do. To lose a dear friend is never easy."
RCMP were hoping to remove the bodies before nightfall Wednesday. They were to be flown to the morgue in Penticton or possibly Kelowna, said Cpl. Ted Manchulenko.
The Transportation Safety Board is now investigating the cause of the crash.
Aviation experts have suggested the plane could have had trouble lifting after takeoff because the air was hot and calm. Notices at Penticton Airport had warned pilots they must rise to safe altitude before turning.