Two Canadian solo student pilots were killed in a midair collision yesterday (July 8) near Steinbach (South) Airport in Manitoba, about 45 miles south-southeast of Winnipeg. Both students were practicing landings, one in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk and the other in a Cessna 152.
One of the victims was identified by her family as Savanna May Royes, 20, whose father is also a pilot. The identity of the second victim has not been released. Both are reported to have been pursuing careers as airline pilots. One was a relatively new student and the second was pursuing a commercial rating. It’s unclear as of now which was which.
They were students at Harv’s Air, a training provider with locations at Steinbach and St. Andrews in Manitoba. Adam Penner, president of Harv’s Air flying school, said, “We’re devastated. We don’t understand how they could get so close together. We’ll have to wait for the investigation.” Both pilots were pronounced dead at the scene by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Harv’s Air has been training students since Penner’s parents launched the operation in the 1970s. The school trains some 400 students annually and offers student housing on-site. The airport has two runways, 3,112-foot Runway 18/36 (turf/asphalt) and 1,834-foot Runway 07/25 (turf). Canada’s Transportation Safety Board will investigate the accident.
I can understand how this happened. Far too many people are staring at their computer screens, instead of looking out the windows. Not just in aircraft, but in their vehicles as well. I’m not insinuating that this is the cause, but it is a definite possibility. Another thing I’ve seen is ADSB out only, especially on training aircraft. So if neither airplane had ADSB in, then neither pilot got any sort of warning.
" See and Avoid "
When practiced correctly and continually, saves lives.
RIP
Condolences to the family and friends of these two fledglings. Aviation can be very unforgiving of even a minor lapse in attention.
Canadian airport, Canadian registered airplanes. No ADSB, in or out.
I concur. Just the other day, a PC-12 showed up at my airport dropping some folks off. Talking with the crew, they invited me inside to look around at the Honeywell panel. GEEZUS! The thing was filled with TV sets everywhere. Information overload personified.