Transportation Safety Board of Canada says student-pilot was a Chinese national.

MARATHON – Investigators remain baffled as to what happened to a student pilot who rented a plane that later crashed in the Northern Ontario woods.

Officials with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada confirmed the pilot, who rented the plane in Ann Arbor, Mich. last week, was a Chinese national who exited the plane at some point between takeoff and the crash landing, which occurred late last Wednesday night.

The wreckage of the single-engine Cessna aircraft was discovered on Thursday, about 60 kilometres east of Marathon, Ont., near White River. No body was found at the crash site and there were no footprints in the area surrounding the downed plane.

The TSB has confirmed the plane did not touch down at any point after it took off and would not speculate on Monday as to what had occurred.