A pilot reported missing last Friday has been tragically discovered deceased after search teams located his small aircraft submerged in the Kawartha Lakes area, according to the Ontario Provincial Police. The OPP revealed that remnants of the aircraft were recovered from Wolfe Lake in Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park on Monday, with the actual plane found underwater in the lake on Tuesday. Authorities have confirmed the pilot’s death and are arranging a retrieval operation for the aircraft.
The pilot, named David and aged 73, failed to return to Oshawa Executive Airport after departing in a self-built airplane at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. Expected back by 9:30 a.m., he was last sighted in the vicinity of Balsam Lake near Kirkfield. Family members reported him missing, prompting a search effort led by the Trenton Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, in collaboration with the OPP, the City of Kawartha Lakes detachment, and additional agencies. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources assisted in locating both the pilot and the aircraft.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), responsible for investigating various transportation incidents, including aviation, is looking into the circumstances surrounding the crash. The TSB has dispatched investigators to Minden Hills, Ontario, to probe the accident involving the privately registered small plane. Durham police had described the pilot as an experienced aviator known to frequent the area south of Kawartha Lakes and north of Lake Scugog.
The OPP expressed condolences to the pilot’s family and appreciated the public’s contributions to the search efforts.
