2 Pilots Die Tragically as Airplanes Collide Mid-Air While Trying to Land in Canada

• Two student pilots have died after their airplanes collided when they were trying to land at the same time
• The incident happened when the two Cessna aircraft were practising take-offs and landings in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada
• The crashed planes were both from the Harv's Air Pilot Training School, and one of the students was nearly a qualified pilot

Two pilots have died in Manitoba, Canada, while practising landing and takeoffs at a training school.

The incident took the lives of the two trainee pilots, with one of them said to be getting ready for graduation.

The other pilot was said to have recently started training at the Harv's Air Pilot Training School.

According to reports by Daily Star, the tragic incident happened on Tuesday, July 8, around 8.45am.

It involved two small Cessna aircraft practising take-offs and landings near a rural runway in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada.

Both trainee pilots were pronounced dead. One of them was a young woman identified as 20-year-old Savanna May Royes.

Her family said of her:

“Savanna’s faith and laughter will forever touch everyone who was lucky enough to have known her during her short life."

The flight school’s president, Adam Penner, confirmed the incident but said they are waiting for the investigation.

He said:

“It appears both pilots were trying to land at the same time and collided. We don’t understand how they could get so close together. We’ll have to wait for the investigation.”

Meanwhile, neighbours who live around the area confirmed hearing a banging sound.

One of them, Lucille, said:

“We heard some kind of crackling, banging sound and then the engine turned off – I recognized that because sometimes they do stunts around here and they turn the engine off, but they turn it back on. Next thing we heard is a big crash and a big bang… and we knew this isn’t a stunt, this is something serious.”

Also speaking, another resident named Nathaniel confirmed seeing black smoke moments after the sound was heard.

He said:

“We saw a pillar of black smoke coming up and a little bit later [we] heard another bang and there was an even bigger pop of black smoke.”

According to the school's website, they have operated for more than 51 years.

It says:

"Harv’s Air is a family owned and operated flying school, air taxi, and aircraft maintenance organization with two locations: Steinbach and St. Andrews, both located in the Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada area. For more then 51 years, we have been offering the very best flight training in the safest, most enjoyable way possible."

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The plane, which had 242 people on board, crashed approximately 30 seconds after take-off, killing all passengers except one.

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Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng