'No survivors have been located': 3 believed dead in B.C. float plane crash

Three people are believed dead following a float plane crash Wednesday northwest of Port Hardy, B.C.

According to Capt. Chelsea Dubeau, spokesperson for Maritime Forces Pacific, a witness reported the plane crashed into Strachan Bay shortly after takeoff at 12:52 p.m.

The RCMP say two passengers and a pilot were on board when the plane went down.

Mounties were called to the scene at 1:20 p.m. after receiving a notice from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre that said a Cessna float plane had gone down in the bay.

Dubeau says multiple search assets responded to the incident, including a Cormorant helicopter out of 19 Wing Comox, a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter, a Transport Canada surveillance plane and a coast guard lifeboat out of Port Hardy.

"No survivors have been located and the plane has been presumed to have sunk," Cpl. Alex Bérubé, spokesperson for the B.C. RCMP, said in a release Thursday morning.

"The RCMP and the Transportation Safety Board are working together to determine what may have caused the plane to go down."

Dubeau says the coast guard helicopter was the first to arrive on scene and spotted debris and an oil slick, followed by Transport Canada’s surveillance aircraft that assisted with infrared sensors.

"SAR Tecs [search and rescue technicians] were lowered to the lifeboat to assess the scene along with the boat crew and after assessment of the crash site it was determined that further extraction efforts were beyond the capabilities of those on scene and RCMP were advised and took over," Dubeau said Thursday.