A Spruce View area man, believed to be 67-years-old, died after his single engine Cessna crashed in a field just south of the Innisfail airport.
Herluf Nielsen, a well known pilot in the central Alberta flying community and a member of the Civilian Air Search and Rescue Association, took off alone from the Red Deer airport in his Cessna 182 at about 11 p.m. Saturday.
"I was the last one to wave at him and give him a thumbs-up as he left the airport," said fellow search and rescue pilot Bob Jablonski.
RCMP, Red Deer Search and Rescue and the Civilian Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA) launched a search for the pilot just before midnight after he failed to show up for his expected arrival time at the Innisfail airport.
The wreckage from the plane was found by the search team in a field just south of the Innisfail airport at about 5 a.m. Sunday. Nielsen was found dead.
"Herluf was a great person. You couldn't ask for a nicer friend, a nicer aviator, always dedicated to search and rescue," said Jablonski.
The death has left members of the Innisfail Flying Club searching for answers.
"He was one of our best pilots, that's the very sad part about this all," said Alvin Hand.
Hand and Nielsen first became friends in 1958 and were two of the founding members of the Innisfail Flying Club.
Nielsen's death is the club's first ever fatality and his experience as a pilot leaves his friends wondering what happened.
"He was a very capable pilot," said Hand.
Nielsen was also night endorsed, meaning he was able to fly with minimal instrument use.
RCMP say there was thick fog in the area at the time of the plane crash.
Transportation Safety Board spokesperson, Jon Lee, tells CTV News they have sent two investigators to the crash site.
Innisfail is located about 30 kilometres south of Red Deer.
