THE B.C. Coroners Service has identified the two passengers killed in a floatplane crash near Peachland, Sunday, as a couple from West Vancouver.
Peter Keate, 81 and Inez Keate, 79, died Sunday after the Beaver floatplane they were traveling in crashed into a steep hillside above Highway 97C at about 6:45 p.m. and burst into flames.
The pilot and owner of the plane, Colin Moyes, 52, also of West Vancouver, was also killed in the collision.
The amphibious floatplane had taken off only minutes before from Okanagan Lake, en route back to Pitt Meadows.
Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board are examining whats left of the wreckage and the planes engine to determine what caused the plane to crash.
That task will be made more difficult by the fire that destroyed much of the planes wreckage.
Witnesses said they saw the plane flying low over the area before it crashed.
Investigators dont know yet if there was any mechanical or engine problem with the plane.
Moyes, who owned two planes, was considered an experienced private pilot, according to friends at Pitt Meadows Airport.
A full investigation is expected to take several months.
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