Rescuers find plane, bodies off B.C. coast

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Six bodies, one an infant, were found inside a float plane that crashed near Saturna Island in British Columbia, Canadian police said Monday.

A Coast Guard dive team at Lyall Harbour on Saturna Island found the aircraft containing the bodies early Monday off the southeastern coast of Vancouver Island, the Victoria Times Colonist reported.

Two people, a male pilot and a female passenger, were rescued and taken to hospital shortly after the plane crashed Sunday, officials said.

Rescuers had difficulty locating the aircraft because of near-zero visibility in the water and strong currents, said Troy Haddock, maritime coordinator for the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Victoria.

The Transportation Safety Board also was expected to arrive Monday to begin its investigation into the crash, the Colonist reported.

"Hopefully, we will be able to talk to the survivors to determine if they know what caused this," said Bill Yearwood, the Pacific region regional manager for the TSB. "They may have the best information as to what happened."

The TSB investigators will try to retrieve the aircraft to examine it, since small aircraft don't have black boxes or data recorders that can provide an indication of events leading up to a crash.

The plane was making a scheduled flight to the Vancouver airport, and picked up passengers on Mayne and Pender islands before its final stop at Saturna, the newspaper said.

Seair Airplanes co-owner Christy Clarke said company representatives would arrive at the scene Monday.