CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Stormy weather may have factored in a plane crash that killed a U.S. Fish and Wildlife service employee and a contractor.

Vernon Ray Bentley, a 52-year-old Fish and Wildlife Service employee from Blodgett, and passenger David Pitkin, a 59-year-old former employee working as a contractor out of Bandon, died when the plane crashed in an Oregon forest Monday.

The two men were flying from Corvallis to the coast as part of the agency's annual midwinter count of migratory birds, said David Patte, an agency spokesman.

The plane's wreckage was found Monday morning after it failed to arrive in Corvallis as scheduled on Sunday, said Benton County Sheriff Diana Benton. The men were scheduled to return to Corvallis at about 4 p.m.

"These pilots -- and Ray in particular -- were excellent pilots, used to flying in very demanding situations (and) very close to the ground," Patte said.

Patte said it's believed that the pair hit bad weather while they were in the air.

"The plane did go down in what we believe were some pretty severe weather conditions," he said.

The plane, a single-engine Cessna, was registered to the U.S. Department of the Interior. The effort to find the missing aircraft began four hours later, with roughly 50 people assisting the sheriff's office.

A radio signal from the plane's locator beacon allowed searchers to narrow the crash site to an area near Philomath. Ground searchers located the wreckage at about 8:30 a.m.

"It's a heavily forested area, not easy to get to," said Mary King, emergency program manager for Benton County.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will try to determine the cause of the crash.

"They will be sorely missed and it's just a tragic day for us," Patte said.

Stormy Weather May Have Factored In Plane Crash