A 71-year-old flight instructor with Pacific Rim Aviation Academy died in a float plane crash on Pitt Lake Monday.

His 55-year-old student pilot was able to get out of the submerged Cessna 172 and was rescued by nearby boaters.

Air Ambulance transported the Burnaby man to hospital at around 5: 30 p.m. and he was released later that night with minor injuries.

The two men were on a training flight from Pitt Meadows Airport.

"We know that the aircraft upset, flipped over, during the take-off phase of a touch

- and go manoeuvre," said Bill Yearwood, regional manager for Transportation Safety Board.

"They had already done five or six of the manoeuvres," he said, adding that the weather conditions at the time of the accident were "challenging because it was windy and gusting."

"[Pacific Rim Aviation Academy] doesn't have a bad reputation. This is the first time the Transportation Safety Board has had to investigate an accident with this company and they are helping with the investigation," explained Yearwood.

"The instructor had many years experience, he was very experienced," Yearwood added.

The body of the pilot had to be removed from the wreckage near Goose Island by search-and-rescue technicians during the early evening on Monday. The wreckage has yet to be salvaged.

Ridge Meadows RCMP's Cpl. Alanna Dunlop said the victim is from Surrey and his name is being withheld.

smclaren@mrtimes.com