The pilot of a glider is dead after his aircraft crashed Tuesday evening in Arthur, Ont., about 120 km northwest of Toronto.

Stephen Mackie, 46, was the lone occupant of the glider when it went down.

Wellington County police and firefighters responded to a report of a light plane crash around 6 p.m. and found the glider had crashed near a tree line on a farmer's field.

Witnesses told police they saw the glider circling well above the ground, then suddenly plummet.

The Transportation Safety Board sent a team to the site Wednesday to investigate the crash.