KINGSTON, Ontario – Police in the Canadian city of Kingston said seven members of a family, five Missouri City residents, died after the small plane they were flying in crashed in the area Wednesday evening.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada sent a team of four investigators to the scene of the crash, where they examined and documented the wreckage.
The plane left Markham, Ontario, and was headed for the Kingston airport, but went down just a few miles from its destination.
The pilot, Otabek Oblokulov of Missouri City was flying with his wife and three children, ages 5, 10 and 15 years old.
His brother-in-law and sister-in-law were also aboard and all seven were killed.
Oblokulov is being remembered as a pillar of the Uzbek community in Houston.
“This has been devastating for all of Uzbek community. In our community there is no I or me, it’s we. So today we all pray for Otabek and his wife and kids”, said Askarali Karimov, a close family friend.
Oblokulov took flight lessons at Anson Aviation in Sugarland and in March and the aviation company posted on social media that they had helped him acquire a plane.
Canadian officials say the area where the crash occurred was under a wind advisory at the time, and while winds may not have been as bad as predicted, it was certainly “blustery.”
Family and friends have set up a GoFundMe crowdfunding page to raise funds that “will be used to bring the Oblokulov’s family to their home-country and assist with funeral expenses,” the group wrote.