Pilot dead after plane crashes into field outside Sussex

A 67-year-old pilot is dead after the plane he was flying out of an airfield outside Sussex crashed in a nearby cornfield. 

The crash happened shortly after 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The owner of the airstrip noticed the crashed plane in the field.

Sussex RCMP Sgt. Jim MacPherson said the New Brunswick man was flying a single-engine dual-seat private aircraft.

The plane crashed a short distance from the private airstrip at 121 Marshall Hill Rd. in Wards Creek, south of Sussex. 

Two investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada travelled from Dartmouth, N.S., to investigate. MacPherson said the RCMP will be working alongside the board.

"The pilot was the only person on board and was deceased at the scene," MacPherson said. 

The pilot, whose identity has not been released, died from his injuries, he said.  

Safety board investigator Bruce Mullen called the plane a Zenair 710, but the RCMP have confirmed it was a Zenith STOL CH 750.

No one was at the airfield when the kit-built short takeoff and landing plane took off, so it's not known where it was going or what the purpose of the flight was. Mullen said engineers will try to determine the plane's path using evidence gathered at the scene.

Investigators will now look at the state of the pilot's licence, the maintenance history of the plane and the weather at the time of the crash, he said.

The plane about 50 metres from the end of the airstrip, and the runway will likely be closed for the duration of the investigation, police said.