2 Student Pilots Killed in Midair Collision Practicing ‘Take Offs and Landings’

Family-run aviation academy shattered by first fatal crash in 50 years as young trainees collide during landing practice

Two aspiring pilots were killed in a horrifying midair collision during a routine training exercise at a Canadian flight school Tuesday morning—an unprecedented tragedy for a respected academy that hadn’t seen a fatal crash in half a century.

The accident unfolded just before 9 a.m. on July 8, near Harv’s Air Flight Training School, located south of Steinbach, Manitoba, not far from the U.S. border. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the two single-engine planes—a four-seat Cessna 172 and a smaller Cessna 152—collided roughly 1,300 feet from the runway during a series of practice takeoffs and landings.

Witnesses say the impact was sudden and unmistakable.

“We heard a loud engine rev, then thuds, and then everything went silent,” said local resident Nathanial Plett. “Seconds later, black smoke started rising from the field.”

Emergency crews rushed to the crash site, a privately owned field not far from the airport, but it was too late. Both pilots—young students enrolled in the intensive training program—were pronounced dead at the scene.

One of the victims was later identified as 20-year-old Savanna May Royes, an ambitious trainee following in her father’s footsteps to become a commercial pilot. Her family described her as “brilliant, faithful, and full of joy.”

“This has shaken us to the core,” said Adam Penner, owner of Harv’s Air. Fighting back tears, he described the school as “a small family,” where many students come from overseas and form close bonds. “This is our daily routine. We’ve done it thousands of times. It’s devastating.”

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has launched an investigation, dispatching a team of aviation experts to analyze the wreckage and review communications between the aircraft. RCMP officials said it was “too early” to rule out criminal charges, though there’s currently no indication of foul play.

Early speculation suggests the crash may have been caused by a breakdown in communication or visibility between the two aircraft.

“Somewhere on approach, they just didn’t see each other,” Penner said.

The school, which has trained pilots from around the world for over five decades, had never experienced a fatal crash until now.

“Our hearts are broken,” Penner said. “No family, no instructor, no fellow student expects this to happen.”

Authorities have not yet released the identity of the second student. The investigation remains active and ongoing.