The girls were 10 and 11 years old.

Two adults were also on the plane, including its owner and pilot, Stephen J. Betsill, the co-owner of Betsill Brothers Construction.

The Cessna Cardinal 177 was found about 7:50 a.m. in Nahiku, about 200 yards mauka of the Hana Highway. A helicopter from Windward Aviation, which was hired by relatives of the pilot to help with the search, spotted the wreckage and lowered someone to the ground to check, said Maui Fire Department Assistant Chief Alan Cordeiro.

"It was in a ravine," he said. "It's quite hilly and there is heavy vegetation. There are a lot of gulches and stream beds."

Relatives on Saturday told authorities that plane left Kahului Airport about 2 p.m. to tour East Maui. The plane was to fly toward Hana, then circle back to Kahului.

Two hours after takeoff, radar picked up the Cessna above Ke'anae Point at 1,600 feet, a normal flying altitude for the area. Ke'anae is along the coastal route to Hana.

Then the plane dropped out of sight.

Betsill's wife, Trudee, called the Federal Aviation Administration at 7:45 p.m. Saturday and reported the group missing.

Family members declined to comment today. Lee Guthrie, the wife of Stephen Betsill's brother Doyle, said the family was struggling to cope with the sudden loss.

"We're having a hard time out here," Guthrie said.

Tweet Coleman, Pacific representative for the FAA, said airports throughout the state were contacted Saturday evening and police searched for the missing people.

Because Betsill had filed no flight plan, the searchers were unsure whether to focus their search on the ocean or the land.

The Coast Guard, Maui Fire Department and Civil Air Patrol searched all yesterday, then resumed their efforts at first light today.

Coleman said an FAA aviation safety inspector would do a preliminary investigation. A representative from the National Transportation Safety Board would arrive on Maui, probably tomorrow, to take over, she said.

Although the plane was made in 1968, Coleman said that was not considered old by aviation standards. She had not seen its recent maintenance records, however, and did not know how much flying experience the pilot had.