The RCMP say they found 109 kilograms of cocaine in a small plane that crashed on the west side of Okanagan Lake on Tuesday night.

The pilot was killed when his aircraft went down in a heavily forested mountainous area 23 kilometres southwest of Vernon. There were no passengers.

The single-engine Piper, which crashed in the Okanagan on Tuesday night, was carrying more than 100 kilograms of cocaine.
(CBC)

Vernon RCMP Staff-Sgt. Carlson said police were suspicious because the pilot had not filed a flight plan for the night trip.

"No flight plan was available or booked from this aircraft, so we don't know where it was coming from or where it was destined to. Obviously, it didn't reach its destination."

Carlson said the single-engine Piper went down after running out of fuel.

He also said it's quite common for drug traffickers to fly small aircraft over remote areas at night.

Police also note the crash happened in an area where there have been ongoing concerns about light planes and helicopters being involved in drug smuggling across the Canada-U.S. border.

Police have identified the pilot as a 39-year-old James Edgar Darwin of Vernon, who had rented the plane from the Flight Discovery flight school in Kamloops.

School not involved: owner

The school's owner, Tammy Pitkeathly, says her company was not involved in any illegal activities such as drug trafficking.

"We know that that possibility is there and we try to take whatever precautions we can."

She adds the renter had all the proper paperwork and necessary experience, and had rented from her several times in the past.

Pitkeathly was surprised to learn he did not file a flight plan, and was flying at night.

"He was a recreational pilot permit holder, which is slightly different than the private pilot licence, and there are restrictions on that permit. He was not authorized to be flying at night. He had no night flying training."