SUVA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Fijian government announced on Tuesday to appoint an independent investigator to carry out investigations of the missing plane which lost communication with airport tower Monday afternoon.

While announcing this, the Fijian government also pledged that the search and rescue operations would continue until the crash site was located.

On Tuesday, 29 Fijian military and police personal together with 10 villagers were part of the three teams leading the ground search in the area, but heavy rain and fog hampered Tuesday's aerial search with the rescue helicopter only able to conduct one flight over the search area.

Earlier Monday, a small plane, Cessna 172, with two people on board was missing in Vanua Levu, a northern island of Fiji. It is confirmed that the missing persons were a male flying instructor and a 21-year-old female trainee pilot.

The plane, which belongs to the Pacific flying school, left early Monday from Nadi, the third largest city of the South Pacific island state, and headed to Labasa, capital of the northern island of Vanua Levu.