A devoted mom of two was k!lled in front of her daughter by a small plane that landed on her car while making an emergency landing on a highway.
Alex Garneau and her daughter were in one of four cars hit by the twin-engine Beech King Air 200 plane as it landed in Prince George, British Columbia, on Thursday afternoon, August 20.
The pilot was forced to make the emergency landing when one of its engines lost power before he could safely make it the final 13 miles to Prince George airport.
None of the six passengers nor two crew on the twin-engine plane operated by Sekani Air were injured.
But Garneau was “driving with her daughter Josie when the plane impacted with their vehicle and she was tragically k!lled,” a family friend said on Facebook.
Josie walked away “most unharmed” from the crash site, the friend said.
Garneau was a proud “hockey mom” whose two kids — Josie and son Jackson — both play. She also leaves behind husband Jordan.
“She was the kind of person who was behind the scenes of almost every team and activity her kids were part of. She made the drive,” her friends said in a fundraiser, paying tribute to the “hockey mom.”
“She organized. She cheered. She made things happen. Her children are both incredible people and hockey players, and she had big dreams for them and the lives they will lead,” they said.
“Alex was the friend who always had your back, the person you knew would show up when you needed her the most. She had a way of making people feel like they belonged all while having so much fun.
“For some of us, she offered something that is difficult to find: family. She didn’t need to have known you your whole life to make you feel like you belonged in hers. She made room for people, and she supported them.”
Jaime Pawliuk, one of the other drivers whose car was struck, said he feels lucky to have been “able to walk out of it.”
“It was absolutely unbelievable,” Pawliuk told CBC of the plane shattering his sunroof.
“It’s something you only see in movies.”
“All of a sudden it was on top of me,” he recalled of the unexpected landing plane.
“I tried to swerve as much as I could to get into the ditch, but unfortunately I was only able to make it just a little ways before the wing just sheared the entire top of my vehicle off and showered me with glass.
“I have superficial cuts all in my hands. I have glass still in my hair.”
Mohit Arora, another driver, claimed one of the plane’s propellers nearly hit his car.
“It just stopped like 10 feet ahead from my car. I am so lucky that the fan and the blades did not hit my car,” he said.
Ten people were assessed for injuries at the scene, two of which were hospitalized in stable condition.
The plane was operated by Sekani Air and it could take months for the final crash report to be completed.
