The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said five passengers and one pilot were onboard the aircraft, which left Springbank Airport near Calgary around 9 p.m. MT en route to Salmon Arm, B.C., for a church function, reports CBC.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Ryan Singleton told CBC that relatives lost contact with passengers on the plane around 9:30 p.m. Hours later, the plane was reported overdue, prompting a Winnipeg-based Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) squadron to conduct a search.

The RCAF crew later traced the missing plane's emergency locator to Mount Bogart in Kananaskis Country.

The crash site is located close to the Kananaskis Village.

The identities of the crash victims have not been revealed so far.

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.

"Unfortunately, it wasn't the outcome we would have liked to see," he told CBC.