Canadian dies after crashing stolen plane in Peterborough: Police

A man was killed early Friday after crashing a stolen airplane on a roadway east of Toronto, police said

A man was killed early Friday after crashing a stolen airplane on a roadway east of Toronto, police said.

An image tweeted by a Canadian man shows the wreckage of the plane that crashed in Peterborough (Twiiter@carl680)

The Piper PA-38-112 Tomahawk went down south of downtown Peterborough on the shores of Lake Ontario at 1:20 am local time (0520 GMT).

Images of the wreck showed a crushed nose and cockpit, and broken wings.

Peterborough police inspector Lynne Buehler told a press conference the man appeared to have been “attempting to land the plane.”

He was pronounced dead at the scene. It was unclear if he was licenced to fly or had any cockpit experience.

The aircraft was reported stolen from a rural airstrip near Markham, Ontario, about 100 kilometers west of the crash site, said York Regional Police, which has taken over the investigation.

Canada’s Transportation Safety Board has also sent investigators to the site to determine the cause of the accident.