Crews are still trying to retrieve the bodies of pilot Sam Langford and passenger Tim Jones.  After a frayed rope dashed their first attempt, police rescuers in Tasmania will need to wait for specialist deep-sea equipment to recover the bodies of two men killed in a light plane crash.  Pilot Sam Langford, 29, and his passenger Tim Jones, 61, remain in the cockpit of the single-engine Cessna, some 90 metres below the surface in seas near the Tasman Peninsula.  Retrieval crews yesterday raised the plane from the sea bed to 15 metres beneath a police boat, where divers were about to enter the water to recover the victims' bodies.  That's when the rope snapped, sending the aircraft back to its resting place.  "So close," a disappointed Inspector Lee Renshaw told reporters today as he relayed news of the failed recovery.  The operation now awaits the return from Victoria of specialist deep-sea remote-control equipment, to again attach a line to the aircraft so it can be hauled to a depth divers can reach.  "There is no other way to do it," Insp Renshaw said.  "There isn't a way to retrieve the two people from the aircraft unless we get it to a dive depth. It isn't possible to do it at the depth that it's at."  Exhausted search and rescue police who had been at sea since the plane crashed at about 6.20pm (AEDT) on Monday, have returned to land, but vow not to give up on the mission to retrieve the bodies.  "We will be in negotiations ... to find out when (the equipment is) available to return and we will then make plans to go back and make another attempt to retrieve the aircraft," Insp Renshaw said, adding that it should only be a matter of days.  The metre-long machine, powered by four propellers and fitted with lights and cameras, used its mechanical arm to double-loop a rope around the aircraft's landing gear and lift the plane nose first.  Inspector Renshaw said a sharp edge on the damaged, upturned Cessna most likely rubbed against the rope as the machine hauled in the load of up to three tonnes.  "Working at those depths it's a bit difficult to see where you're putting the lines.  "The rope wouldn't break on its own, it's chafed."  Mr Jones had been photographing competitors in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race when the crash occurred.  The crew on board cruiser Mistraal witnessed the plane bank and then plunge nose-first into the water just 300 metres from away.  Skipper Jacinta Cooper radioed for help before the boat rushed to the spot where the plane's tail was seen to disappear beneath the waves.  Today Mistraal was awarded "most meritorious performance" by Sydney to Hobart organisers, during the official 2014 trophy presentations.  Seven racing yachts diverted from their course to Hobart to help with the search operation.  Insp Renshaw said the victims' families have been informed of the setback.  The recovery mission also hopes to collect evidence from the plane to help the coroner determine what caused the crash.  Do you have any news photos or videos?
Police divers hope to retrieve the bodies of two men as soon as possible from a light plane which crashed into deep Tasmanian waters.