A single-engine plane missing overnight with two people on board was found today about 9 miles west of Satus Pass near this community on the Columbia River.

The pilot, Eric Miller, 41, and passenger James McGonagle, 19, both of Wenatchee, died in the crash, said Alan Hunter at Wings of Wenatchee air taxi service, which owned the Cessna 182.

Searchers on snowshoes found the plane, a Klickitat County sheriff's dispatcher said, quoting Deputy Peter Garland, the county search coordinator.

"There was no other way to get in there," dispatcher Pam Maurer said, noting that rugged country and heavy snow hampered the 13-hour search effort.

The plane left Wenatchee about 8 p.m. Wednesday, bound for Portland, Miller said. Seattle-area radar lost contact with the plane about 10 p.m., Maurer said.

The U.S. Air Force Rescue Coordination Center detected an emergency-locator signal near Satus Pass, just north of Goldendale along the Columbia River and about 170 miles south of Wenatchee.

Miller was making a freight run to Portland and McGonagle, who also worked for Wings, was along for the ride, Hunter said from the company base at Pangborn Memorial Airport.

McGonagle had a private pilot's license and was working on his commercial license, and hoped to pick up some tips on the trip, he said.

"He was a great kid," Hunter said. "They were both great friends."

About 40 searchers from state agencies, Yakima and Klickitat counties and the Yakama Tribe combed the area by plane, on snowmobiles and on foot.