A cause of a small private plane crash that resulted in the death of its owner has been connected to a lack of flying experience by the pilot.
A 67-year-old man from Kingston, N.B., died after a plane crash near Sussex, N.B. on July 3.
READ MORE: TSB investigating after man dies in plane crash near Sussex, N.B.
The man held a student pilot permit at the time of his flight and under those permit guidelines, he shouldn’t have been flying without an instructor.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigation into the crash concluded that the Zenair STOL CH 750 aircraft found that the flight and power plant controls had been operating before impact.
The aircraft was found in an upright position less than 400 feet from the runway at the Sussex Airport.
The crash was spotted by a motorist who was passing by and notified the airport owner.
The investigation found that the 67-year-old pilot was flying alone and didn’t inform anyone of his plans to take off from the airport.
Therefore the nature and intent of his flight is unknown.
TSB found the weather was favourable during the time of the flight and visibility was clear.
The plane the pilot was flying had been bought in September 2017 and had only been used for taxiing runs since then, no flight time.
In total the man had accumulated less than 25 hours of total flight time during the time of the crash.