Canada plane crash: four Britons confirmed dead in Quebec

The Foreign Office has confirmed that four Britons were among six people killed when a sightseeing plane crashed in Quebec.

The small Beaver aircraft, which was operated by Air Saguenay, took off from Tadoussac on Sunday and crashed shortly afterwards in a wooded area in Les Bergeronnes.

However, rescuers only managed to reach the crash site on Monday, due to bad weather and the remote nature of the area, CBC News reports.

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The names of the four British victims have not yet been revealed, but French consulate staff said the fifth passenger was 28-year-old Emilie Delaitre from France, who was visiting Canada with her aunt and uncle.

The pilot has been identified as Romain Desrosiers, a "meticulous and prudent" man who had more than 600 hours of flying experience during his 14-year career, according to the Daily Telegraph.

The cause of the crash remains unknown. The airline says weather conditions were "optimal" at take-off, with no wind and clear visibility. There are conflicting reports in the Canadian and international press about whether the pilot made a distress call before the crash.

The single-engine plane was built in 1956, but the company said it had a "brand new" engine. The airline typically provides charters for hunting, fishing and mining expeditions.

Air Saguenay's vice-president Jean Tremblay has offered his sympathies to the families of the victims. "Everyone is devastated," he said.

Investigators from Canada's Transportation Safety Board are at the scene to determine the cause of the crash. Investigator Pierre Gavillet said the aircraft came down "vertically, between the trees", adding that a fire broke out in the cabin after the crash.

This isn't the first time an Air Saguenay aircraft has crashed. In 2010, the same kind of plane hit a mountain during bad weather, killing four of the six people on board.