Plane missing in Ontario found with two dead occupants

Search and rescue teams say a plane with two people on board that went missing earlier this week in a remote area of northern Ontario has been found with both occupants dead.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton, Ont., said Saturday night that the search for the Cessna 208 Caravan of ZAM Air Service, which went missing on Tuesday, was complete as the plane had been found just south of Chaucer Lake, Ont..

According to the centre, the two people, who have not been identified, were found dead at the scene. Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) search and rescue technicians (SAR Techs) were deployed from a CH-146 Griffon helicopter at about 11:55.

The plane disappeared between Nakina and Fort Hope and was found just south of Chaucer Lake, northeast of Thunder Bay, around 11:30 Saturday. The Cessna 208 left Nakina (YQN) – located nearly 350 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay – around 12:30 on February 28 en route to Eabametoong First Nation (Fort Hope – YFH).

The Ontario Provincial Police and Transport Canada have both been notified and the Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the accident.

A spokesman for the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton, Major Trevor Reid, said Wednesday that military and police planes and helicopters, as well as civilian planes, were deployed along the flight route of the Cessna as part of research efforts.