Oxford County OPP officers have identified the 76-year-old glider plane operator killed in a crash north of Ingersoll, Ont.
John Cove of Thames Centre died when the glider plane he was operating crashed in a corn field northwest of the village of Embro on Sunday afternoon.
Family say Cove, who lived just outside of Thorndale, was in aviation for over 30 years and was a methodical and energetic pilot.
The crash happened just feet away from the runway.
Oxford County OPP Const. Stacey Culbert says the glider was being towed by a plane and crashed shortly after the plane departed.
“He was certainly just up in the air for just a few minutes. Whatever it would take for you to be able to get up with the tow plane. So again he wasn't solo flying in his glider for any length of time prior to the crash.”
The tow plane was able to assist emergency services in locating the glider after the crash.
Transport Canada is looking into the cause of the crash and investigator Ewan Tasker says it was “not a normal glide” with the glider descending nose down.
He added that a glider usually disconnects from the aircraft at an altitude around 2,000 feet, while in this case it disconnected early at between 200 and 300 feet.
An examination by Transport Canada has not found any mechanical defects. The glider has been removed from the crash site and is in a sealed container back at the airfield.
Culbert says “Their investigation will take obviously a few days to several weeks and maybe even a month to complete.”
A post mortem was expected to be held on Monday, but no information on the cause of death has been released.
