A pilot who went missing last Friday has been tragically found deceased as search teams located his small aircraft submerged in the Kawartha Lakes area, according to the Ontario Provincial Police. The OPP announced in a press release on Wednesday that wreckage from the aircraft was recovered from Wolfe Lake in Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park, situated northwest of Peterborough, Ontario, on Monday. The plane itself was discovered underwater in the lake on Tuesday.
Authorities have confirmed the pilot’s fatality, and plans are underway to retrieve the aircraft. The pilot, identified as 73-year-old David, was reported missing after he did not return to Oshawa Executive Airport on Friday morning. Departing from the airport in a self-built plane at 8:30 a.m., he was expected back by 9:30 a.m., as stated by the Durham Regional Police. His last known location was in the Balsam Lake vicinity near Kirkfield.
Family members reported the pilot missing, prompting an extensive search effort led by the Trenton Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, which collaborates on air and marine search and rescue missions in Ontario. The operation involved the OPP, members of the City of Kawartha Lakes detachment, and various other agencies. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources assisted in locating both the aircraft and the pilot.
The OPP expressed heartfelt condolences to the pilot’s family and acknowledged the public’s support during the search. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash, dispatching a team of investigators near Minden Hills, Ontario, to examine the accident involving the privately registered small plane.
Although Durham police only provided the pilot’s first name, they described him as a skilled aviator who typically flew in the area south of the Kawartha Lakes municipality and north of Lake Scugog.
