The victim of a fatal plane crash on a remote part of Vancouver Island’s west coast was a Comox Valley man in his 70s, according to the BC Coroners Service.
Neighbours have identified the victim as Hal Shulz.
The aircraft was meant to land around 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Courtenay Airpark, but never arrived, according to the facility.
Search-and-rescue crews and aircraft were deployed Saturday afternoon, but due to darkness, the wreckage was not located until the following day.
The crash site was discovered around 9 a.m. Sunday near Stewardson Inlet, about 10 kilometres northwest of Tofino, according to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC).
The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) said Monday that it was still determining whether it would deploy at team to the crash site.
A spokesperson said the remote location of the crash was making access difficult, and that it may rely on search-and-rescue crews to recover the wreckage.
The TSB confirmed the aircraft was a Cessna 172.
The TSB and the BC Coroners Service are independently investigating the crash.
The incident is the second fatal plane crash in about two weeks in British Columbia.
On Dec. 10, three people were killed when a 1982 Piper Smith-Aerostar crashed on Gabriola Island.
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