2 student pilots die in a midair collision in Manitoba

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Two student pilots died on Tuesday morning when their single-engine planes crashed in midair south of Steinbach, in the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Adam Penner, president of Harv’s Air pilot training school, said the two were practicing takeoffs and landings in small Cessna planes. He said they appeared to have tried to land at the same time and collided a few hundred meters (yards) away from the small runway.

He said the planes are equipped with radios, but it appears the two pilots didn’t see each other.

Police are releasing few details but said the pilots were pronounced dead at the scene and that there were no passengers. Royal Canadian Mounted Police could not confirm the identities of the victims during an afternoon news conference.

“I don’t have that information,” said Manitoba RCMP Cpl. Melanie Roussel. “There’s really limited information right now.”

Penner said the flight school, which his parents started in the early 1970s, has students from Canada and around the world training for professional and recreational purposes. The school trains about 400 student pilots a year.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has been notified.

Steinbach is about 67 kilometers (42 miles) south of Winnipeg, the provincial capital.