Three people died Sunday when a search plane looking for a downed aircraft also crashed.

Search and rescue teams spotted the wreckage of the search plane Sunday afternoon, about half an hour before they found the missing Piper Cherokee that had taken off Saturday.

One person died in the Piper Cherokee and two survived when it crashed on Kokanee Glacier, about 25 miles north of Nelson. The survivors were taken to a hospital in Nelson.

The search plane, also a Piper Cherokee, crashed just east of the glacier.

It was among eight airplanes participating in the search from the Civilian Air Search and Rescue Association. The pilot, navigator and spotter were all from nearby Castlegar.

No names were released.