UPDATE: The pilot and sole occupant of the plane has been identified as David Thomas Tetarenko, aged 54, of Coquitlam.
A pilot is dead after a small plane crashed in the middle of Powell River on Monday.
The Piper twin-engine aircraft, which departed from Pitt Meadows Airport just before 11 a.m., went down near the Safeway at Barnet Street and Joyce Avenue.
Sources told Global News the pilot had delivered passengers to a funeral in Powell River earlier in the day and was returning to pick them up when the crash occurred.
According to witnesses, the plane appeared to stall in mid-air, twirling as it plummeted to the ground. The RCMP confirmed Tuesday morning that the small plane was travelling from the Lower Mainland area to Powell River and was seen shaking from side to side as it flew over an apartment building. The aircraft then spiraled once before hitting the ground.
The pilot died instantly. No one else was on board.
Bill Yearwood of the Transportation Safety Board said “damage to the aircraft and its components are consistent with a power loss on one engine.”
WATCH: Pilot dies after small plane crashes in Powell River parking lot