A pilot who had been missing since Friday was tragically found deceased when search teams located his small aircraft submerged in the Kawartha Lakes region earlier this week, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). The OPP announced on Wednesday that wreckage from the aircraft was recovered from Wolfe Lake in Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park on Monday, and the aircraft itself was located underwater in the lake on Tuesday.
Authorities have confirmed the pilot’s death, and plans are underway to retrieve the plane. The pilot, identified as David, aged 73, was reported missing after he failed to return to Oshawa Executive Airport on Friday morning. Departing at 8:30 a.m. in a home-built aircraft, he was expected to return by 9:30 a.m., as per Durham Regional Police. The last sighting of him was near Kirkfield in the Balsam Lake area.
Family members reported the pilot missing, prompting an extensive search effort coordinated by the Trenton Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, in collaboration with the OPP, members of the City of Kawartha Lakes detachment, and other agencies. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources played a crucial role in locating both the aircraft and the pilot.
The OPP expressed heartfelt condolences to the pilot’s family and acknowledged the valuable assistance from the public during the search operation. Meanwhile, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash. A team of TSB investigators is being dispatched near Minden Hills, Ont., to probe the accident involving the privately registered small plane.
Durham police had identified the pilot by his first name only, describing him as an experienced pilot known to frequent the area south of the municipality of Kawartha Lakes and north of Lake Scugog.
