MANILA — Authorities continued conducting search and rescue operations on Friday to find a missing Cessna plane in the country's mountainous north, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said on Friday said.

The single-engine 206 aircraft carrying a pilot and 5 passengers had taken off from Cauayan, Isabela on Tuesday on a route that would have taken it across the Sierra Madre mountain range, the CAAP earlier said.

In a statement, CAAP said "close monitoring and continuous close coordination with concerned agencies and local government units (LGUs) are still in place."

"As weather conditions are expected to improve today, the search and rescue (SAR) team will continue their attempt to find the said missing aircraft," it said.

The Philippine Air Force is conducting an aerial search in the vicinity where the aircraft went missing with 6 people on board, whose ages range from 10 to 59 years old, CAAP said.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Army, LGUs of Maconacon and Divilacan along with the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Philippine National Police are conducting ground search, CAAP added.

Air traffic controllers earlier initiated a "communication search" after the plane did not respond half an hour after it was supposed to land at a remote airstrip in Maconacon, Isabela, CAAP spokesperson Eric Apolonio previously said.

The search and rescue operation was temporarily halted by poor weather on Wednesday, he added.

• Cessna plane goes missing after takeoff from Cauayan
• Two killed in Philippines air crash, another plane missing

— With a report from Agence France-Presse

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