Transportation Safety Board releases report on crash involving aircraft from Delhi, Ont.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has released a report involving a plane that took off from Delhi, Ont. in April and never arrived at its destination.

On April 14, 2022, a privately registered aircraft left Delhi en route to Marathon, Ont. However, the aircraft was found 37 days later in a mountainous and densely wooded area in Lake Superior Provincial Park.

“After 10 days of extensive searching led by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) with the support of other governmental and private organizations, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) took over the search as a missing persons case,” the report reads. “On 21 May 2022, a helicopter operator involved in a private search identified what seemed to be aircraft parts in an open swampy area and notified the OPP."

The report says the wing’s outboard section had separated from the fuselage after an impact with a tree and was found approximately 170 metres away. Both occupants were found inside the wreckage.

The pilot was certified, and according to the TSB, acquired a pilot’s licence in October 2018 and obtained a night rating in 2019. The pilot had accumulated 114 hours of flying time before this flight.

The report notes the investigation was unable to determine what weather information the pilot obtained before departure, but Environment and Climate Change Canada weather radar showed snow moving over the crash area at the time the last known position was recorded.