VICTORIA -- The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre says it has made the difficult decision to call off its search of a small plane that went missing in central British Columbia one week ago.

Over the last seven days, both military and volunteer civilian aircraft have spent about 320 hours flying in challenging weather conditions searching for the plane, its pilot and passenger.

Rescuers concentrated in the region between Kamloops and Valemount, and covered more than 14,000 square kilometres in the area surrounding the last known location and filed flight plan of the missing plane.

The search has been handed over to the RCMP as a missing persons case.

The missing plane is a white RV6, a home-built, low-wing, single-engine aircraft that can carry no more than two people.

It was reported overdue last Friday on a flight from Edmonton to Chilliwack.