Five days on, no sign of crashed Vic plane

The search for the wreckage of a light plane that crashed into the ocean off Victoria's surf coast, killing four people, has been suspended after a fifth unsuccessful day.

Maintenance records from the plane, found by a member of the public on the beach over the weekend, have been handed to police but the fuselage from the doomed aircraft is yet to be found.

The document may offer clues into the cause of Friday's fatal crash, when the Piper Cherokee plunged into Bass Strait, off Point Lonsdale, on a flight from Melbourne's Moorabbin Airport to King Island in Tasmania.

The fuselage is thought to be in about 30 metres of water, with the body of one of the four victims trapped inside.

The victims' names have not been released but Daniel Flinn, 55, Donald Hateley, 68, and Ian Chamberlain and his partner Dianne Bradley, both aged in their 60s, are believed to have died in the crash.

Three of the bodies were recovered on Friday.

The three men were all licensed private pilots, but it's not clear who was flying.

Police say the hunt for the fuselage is proving difficult, even with sonar technology.

Water police and search and rescue teams will continue scanning under the water using remote-operated vehicles when the search resumes on Wednesday, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.

A surface search is also continuing and members of the public are requested not to touch anything they might find on the shore that looks like it could come from the plane, but to call police immediately.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the crash but is waiting for the remaining wreckage to be found and removed from the sea.