The Transportation Safety Board says it was unable to determine the cause of a plane crash in Goose Bay in December that resulted in the death of the pilot.

On December 14, the privately operated Piper aircraft was about five kilometres from the Goose Bay airport when it collided with the terrain, destroying the aircraft.

Along with the pilot the plane had one passenger on board. Both were seriously injured and were airlifted by helicopter to a waiting ambulance and taken to hospital. The pilot later died of his injuries.

The flight was to be one of several legs to return the aircraft to its home airport in europe following upgrades in the united states.

The report flagged that the craft has exceeded its maximum weight capacity, but couldn’t say whether it was a factor due to insufficient data.

The full air transportation safety investigation report be found here.