A 73-year-old pilot who had been missing since Friday has been found dead after search teams located his small aircraft underwater in a lake in Ontario’s Kawartha Lakes region, police say. The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said aircraft debris was recovered from Wolfe Lake in Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park, north-west of Peterborough, on Monday.

The aircraft itself was found submerged in the lake on Tuesday. Police said the pilot had died and that arrangements were being made to recover the plane. The pilot, identified by Durham Regional Police as David, was reported missing by family members after he failed to return to Oshawa Executive Airport on Friday morning.

He had left the airport at about 08:30 local time in a home-built aircraft and was expected to return an hour later. He was last seen in the Balsam Lake area near Kirkfield.

An extensive search operation was launched involving the Trenton Joint Rescue Coordination Centre, which coordinates air and marine search and rescue operations across Ontario, as well as the OPP and members of its City of Kawartha Lakes detachment.

Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources also assisted in locating the aircraft and the pilot.

“The OPP extends its sincere condolences to the pilot’s family and loved ones and thanks members of the public who provided information, support and assistance throughout the search effort,” police said.

The circumstances surrounding the crash are being investigated by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), the federal agency responsible for investigating air, marine, pipeline and rail incidents.

The TSB said it was deploying a team of investigators near Minden Hills to examine an accident involving a privately registered small aircraft.

Durham police had previously described David as an experienced pilot who usually flew in the area south of Kawartha Lakes and north of Lake Scugog.

The investigation into the crash is continuing.