The man who died after a small float plane crashed on the edge of Puslinch Lake has been identified as 47-year-old Russell Hawkins of Guelph, Ont.

OPP say Hawkins was killed after the plane he was in crashed into heavy bush on the southeast corner of Puslinch Lake on Thursday afternoon.

A second male in the plane was transported to Cambridge Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries and has since been released.

Peter Rowntree, regional senior investigator with the Transportation Safety Board (TSB), says “This was a survivable accident. We do have one individual who walked away relatively unscathed and another who did not so this was tragic.”

The plane, a Cessna 1-72 Skyhawk, sustained major damage to the nose and floats after apparently landing upside down.

Witness say the plane was doing repeated take-off and landing exercises along with a second plane when something went wrong.

Rowntree says “The liftoff was a little late off the lake and the aircraft didn’t have enough distance remaining to out climb the trees and the rising of the terrain that was in front of them…[it] subsequently struck several trees and a power line before it crashed into the side of the hill.”

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) is still investigating all the factors that may have been involved in the crash, but say so far they have found nothing mechanically wrong with the plane.

The wreckage was expected to be removed from the site sometime on Friday.

Friends describe infectious smile

Family and friends of Hawkins, known to them as ‘Russ,’ had an infectious smile, a zest for life and died doing something he loved.

Close friend Carlo Mann says everyone loved him and “He was a caring man that adored his family.”

Over the past few years Hawkins had developed a passion for flying and became a pilot.

“He purchased a plane and he loved flying and he had the opportunity to go out as much as possible,” Mann says.

In fact, Hawkins’ personal assistant tells CTV News that he was logging his final practice hours to obtain his pontoon pilot designation when the crash occurred.

In June, Hawkins hosted a fundraiser at his home that generated nearly $20,000 for the Guelph General Hospital Foundation.

He will be dearly missed by his son, his parents and his friends.