🚨 Eight People Walked Away From The Plane Crash, But One Mother In A Car Did Not: Alex Garneau Was Killed When The Aircraft Came Down Onto A Busy Prince George Highway. 💔✈️
A devoted mother of two was killed when a small charter plane lost power and crashed onto a busy Canadian highway, striking her vehicle as she drove along a multi-lane road in Prince George, British Columbia.
Alex Garneau died on August 20 after the Beech King Air 200, operated by Sekani Air, declared an emergency and attempted a landing on Foothills Boulevard. The aircraft crossed three lanes of traffic and struck four vehicles. Garneau was the only fatality. Two other motorists were taken to hospital in stable condition. All eight people aboard the plane escaped without injury.
Preliminary findings indicate one of the plane’s engines stopped working mid-flight. The aircraft had been bound for a remote airstrip near Prince George when the emergency occurred. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating, a process that could take months. Sekani Air issued a brief statement expressing that it was “troubled by the recent incident” and offering condolences while declining further comment because of the ongoing investigation.
Garneau leaves behind her husband, Jordan, and their two children, Josie and Jackson. Tributes that poured in after her death painted a consistent portrait of a woman who lived at the center of her family’s activities and her community’s youth sports scene. A GoFundMe organized by friend Laura Creighton described her as “a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and the hockey mom.” Those titles, the page noted, only began to capture who she was. “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. 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.”
Creighton called Garneau a devout friend who “always had your back” and the type of person who “would show up when you needed her the most.” The fundraiser continued: “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. Her loss has left an unimaginable hole in the lives of Jordan, Josie and Jackson, and they are now facing a future none of them could have imagined.” The campaign has raised more than $131,000 CAD.
A second fundraiser launched by the Junior Ducks Hockey Club echoed the same themes. “She was more than a hockey mom,” the page stated. “She was always there helping, organizing, supporting the kids, travelling with us and doing whatever she could for the people around her. She was the type of person who brought warmth to a room simply by being there. Over the years, so many of us have spent countless hours with this family at rinks, tournaments, hotels and travelling together. They truly are part of our hockey family. Alex gave so much of herself to her family, her children and the people around her. Now it’s our turn to be there for her family.” That campaign has raised more than $23,000 CAD.
Before she became the reliable presence on the sidelines and in the stands, Garneau had been a competitive athlete herself. She played for the Prince George Youth Volleyball Club, where she helped win back-to-back AAAA Provincial Championships. She went on to represent Team BC and later competed on the varsity team at Capilano University. After her playing days ended, she stayed involved as a coach for several teams in the league and continued competing in Powerleague tournaments. The Prince George Youth Volleyball Club remembered her as “a competitor. She was hardworking and skilled. However, she will also be remembered for her smile, her laugh and how good she made those around her feel. Alex excelled at being a great friend, teammate, sister, daughter, wife, and mother. She will be greatly missed.”
The crash itself unfolded with startling suddenness on a roadway that carries ordinary traffic through Prince George. A plane that had lost engine power came down among vehicles. Four cars were struck. One driver did not survive. The fact that every passenger on the aircraft walked away unharmed has only heightened the sense of cruel chance that claimed Garneau’s life. She was simply driving on a busy road when an emergency from the sky intersected with her path.
In the days since the accident, the dual fundraisers have become gathering points for a community that knew Garneau primarily through the hours she poured into her children’s hockey and the broader network of local sports. The descriptions that keep recurring—organizer, cheerleader, the person who showed up, the one who made others feel they belonged—suggest a woman whose impact was measured less in public recognition than in the steady, practical support she provided. She made the drives. She handled the logistics. She was present.
Jordan, Josie, and Jackson now face a future reshaped in an instant. The children who benefited from their mother’s constant presence at rinks and tournaments must continue without her. The husband who shared the daily work of raising a family must navigate the sudden absence. Friends who counted on her reliability are left with the knowledge that the person who “always had your back” is gone.
The Transportation Safety Board’s investigation will eventually produce a fuller account of why one engine failed and how the emergency landing sequence unfolded. Until then, the public record remains limited to the preliminary finding of power loss, the fact that the aircraft struck multiple vehicles on Foothills Boulevard, and the single fatality that resulted. Sekani Air has said it is cooperating with the inquiry.
For the people who knew Alex Garneau, the technical details of the crash matter less than the void left by her absence. She had been a competitive volleyball player who became a coach and a volunteer. She had been a hockey mom who organized, traveled, and cheered. She had been the friend who made room for others and showed up when it counted. On an ordinary August afternoon, while driving on a busy road in Prince George, she was killed by a plane that fell out of the sky. The community that relied on her is now organizing in return, raising money and sharing memories in an effort to support the family she left behind.