Piper PA32 plane crashes in Calgary, killing six onboard

A small Piper PA32 plane carrying six people crashed in the mountainous area of Kananaskis Country Saturday, in the city of Calgary, after it took off from Springbank Airport near the city, according to a CBC report.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the aircraft was going towards Salmon Arm, British Columbia, for a church function on Friday.

RCMP Staff Sgt Ryan Singleton said contact was lost with the plane around 9:30pm local time (0330 GMT Saturday).

After it was reported that the plane was overdue, a search was launched by a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) squadron based in Winnipeg.

The plane was traced by the Canadian Airforce crew through plane's emergency locator to Mount Bogart in Kananaskis Country. The plane crashed just a few kilometers from Kananaskis Village.

Singleton said: “With help from Alberta Parks Mountain Rescue, the squadron searched the crash site for survivors, but none were found. All six people in the plane died.”

Authorities are yet to release the identities of the victims.

"On behalf of the Alberta RCMP, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the families of those onboard the aircraft," Singleton told reporters.

Mike Koppang, a mountain rescue specialist with Kananaskis Country, said "crews were on the scene for most of Saturday morning and the early hours of the afternoon," adding that "unfortunately, it wasn't the outcome we would have liked to see."

Koppang said that weather conditions Friday night in the area were cloudy, with low-lying clouds in the Kananaskis region.

"We're still trying to figure out exactly what we saw for weather last night," Koppang said.

The investigation has been started by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which said, involved a Piper PA32 aircraft.