Canadian search and rescue teams have called off their part of a search for a small American aircraft not seen since Saturday evening.

"We're going to cease our search effective in the Yukon," Maj. Mitch Leenders of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria told the Star this morning.

The missing Beechcraft Bonanza, a six-passenger low-wing plane, was carrying an elderly American couple when it left Anchorage on Saturday evening.

It was due to arrive in Whitehorse at 8:30 p.m., but never did.

The search began "in the wee hours of Sunday morning," Leenders said, after the B.C. rescue centre was contacted by air traffic control in Whitehorse at approximately 9:30 p.m.

The Canadian air force sent out a Buffalo aircraft, then ramped up their efforts with another Buffalo and a Cormorant helicopter.

A citizen search and rescue unit out of Whitehorse also joined in the search with two Cessnas - a 172 and a 185.

The man and woman on the plane are both carrying cell phones, Leenders said, which are on and roaming for a signal.

The cell phone provider was able to determine that the phones are somewhere in Alaska, prompting the Canadians to stop searching on this side of the border.

By today, all Canadian planes were back on the ground and the American Air Force has taken over the operation entirely.

No calls have been made from either phone, Leenders said, but they are functioning.

An official with the Canadian rescue team told The Canadian Press yesterday there was no indication the plane was in trouble until it failed to show up on Saturday evening.