Driver ‘shouldn’t be here’ after crash with plane in B.C. speared rod through seat

The driver of a vehicle struck by a plane as it made an emergency landing on a British Columbia road says he knows he’s lucky to be alive.

Prince George, B.C., resident Jaime Pawliuk says he only suffered cuts and minor whiplash, but given the severity of the crash that sent a thick metal rod spearing through his backseat at chest height, he “shouldn’t be here.” 

Police have confirmed the driver of a second vehicle hit by the plane died in the crash.

Pawliuk shared photos showing his red Ford SUV with its glass roof mangled from the plane’s impact, the rod embedded in the backseat.

He was on his way to work driving along Foothills Boulevard in the northern B.C. city when the plane came down, Pawliuk saying it was “speeding right towards us.”

The Transportation Safety Board has deployed a team to investigate what forced the Beech King Air 200 propeller plane to make the emergency landing.

Pawliuk says he believes his vehicle’s suspension took the brunt of the impact since the plane struck downward from above.

He says he knows he’s “extremely lucky” to have walked away from the crash.

“I really shouldn’t be here,” he said in an interview.

“After the impact, I was able to know I was still alive, and I was covered in glass and small cuts,” Pawliuk said. “I opened the door and walked around my vehicle until shock set in, then I was sitting.”

Pawliuk was taken to hospital for assessment and released, although he says the shock of the crash kept him awake much of the night.

It was impossible to avoid the plane due to its speed, he added.

“I remember just missing the engine on the wing as I swerved as hard right as I could to get myself in the ditch,” Pawliuk recalled. “But the plane was moving at such an incredible rate, and I was struck in the rightmost lane.”

He said he did not remember the plane’s engine making any sound in the crash.

“As the plane passed my vehicle it was quiet,” he said. “A whistling sound and metal twisting and glass shattering were the sounds I remember hearing. 

“None of my airbags went off. The plane kept going out of my sight.”

Photos shared online show a pickup truck with the tip of a wing embedded in the windscreen, and a man with a bloodied face standing alongside.

Other photos show a third vehicle in a ditch, and the plane on the roadside, it’s wing damaged and its door open.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2026.

By Chuck Chiang | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.