The man's identity has also been released officially.
WANTAGE -- The 59-year-old Elmira, N.Y. man who was piloting a small aircraft that crashed in Wantage last month died from multiple injuries, State Police said.
Authorities declined to identify the pilot involved in the fatal May 16 crash as Lu Chen for more than two weeks due to difficulty locating his next of kin. His identity was officially released earlier this week.
Chen's body was found -- and his Cessna C210 located -- on May 19 in a wooded area near Unionville and Mount Salem roads shortly before 11 a.m., New York Civil Air Patrol Incident Commander Maj. Bill Martin has said. The plane was found inverted, with the wings torn off.
"The pilot appeared to be the lone occupant and was deceased," Martin said. "All appearances are that the aircraft was trying to land in the field and hit the tree line."
The Civil Air Patrol had been searching for this plane since May 17 after being alerted by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Ground search teams were able to track the emergency locator transmitter signal to the Wantage field by Thursday morning.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are currently handling the investigation, State Police said.
Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.