A 29-year-old man has died in a plane crash near St. Andrews Airport. 

RCMP said the pilot was a resident of Thunder Bay, Ontario, who was licensed to fly in Canada and experienced.

Officers were called Highway 8 near Parkdale Road and McPhillips Road around 4:30 a.m. Thursday. 

According to RCMP Cpl. Agathe Bilodeau, while the pilot had flown the plane involved in the crash before, that aircraft actually belonged to someone else.

“We did confirm that the aircraft was taken without consent from the owner, but that the owner did know the pilot,” he said.

RCMP also said the owner of the plane reported it stolen Thursday morning.

The RCMP and the Transportation Safety Board are collaborating, but conducting separate investigations.

Eric Vermette, regional manager, Transportation Safety Board, said the cause of the crash has yet to be determined.  

“The aircraft, Beech Musketeer, departed St. Andrews at 4:10 this morning with only the pilot on board,” Vermette said. “Shortly after takeoff the aircraft collided with terrain (just behind us). The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces.”

A team of three investigators on scene throughout Thursday collected data, examined the wreckage and took photos.

While Vermette said it’s unclear whether the board will conduct a full investigation into the crash, the next steps include conducting interviews, going over maintenance records, looking at meteorological conditions and examining air traffic control data to see if a flight plan was in place.

Aviation community reacts

Terrence Owen grew up around the St. Andrews airport, and now works as operations manager for his family’s company, Amik Aviation.

Owen said that while his business serves people flying to remote communities, many pilots in the area operate private planes for personal use.  

He called crashes an uncommon occurrence, but said they still hit close to home.

“When it does happen everyone’s thinking ‘oh that could have been us,’” Owen said.

Craig Bork lives across the road from where the aircraft crashed, and said the commotion woke him just after 4 a.m. Thursday.

Much like Owen, he was shocked to find out someone had died in the crash.

“You don’t want anybody to ever lose their life,” Bork said.

“I mean, I’ve been here 22 years, and I’m sort of used to the plane traffic flying overhead, but this is tragic.”

The St. Andrews Airport is owned by the municipality but operated as a separate, independent corporation.

The airport’s director declined to comment Thursday afternoon, due to the fact that the investigations are ongoing.