Death unleashes in a split second without any warning. One second, everything is merry, the next it’s gone in the blink of an eye. Aviation malfunctions and crashes have been a common buzzing phenomenon these days, and airplane-caused deaths have grown frantically.
In an unfortunate turn of events, Samantha Hayes, a woman hailing from Oklahoma met her death after being hit by the wing of the 1972 Bonanza A36 as it landed at Broken Bow Airport in McCurtain County on Friday. This report was obtained by PEOPLE from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reports from the day of the incident. Hayes was killed on the spot.
A 70-year-old pilot was riding the Bonanza A36, when he spotted Hayes on the lawn mower, “attempted to pull up” and “get the wing over the person,” but struck her instead, resulting in her instant death. According to NBC News via PEOPLE, Hayes worked for the Broken Bow Parks Department. City Manager Vickie Patterson expressed her heartfelt condolences in a statement to NBC News saying, “We are heartbroken and devastated by the passing of one of our team members on Sept. 29. This is a terribly tragic accident, and our deepest sympathies go out to the employees family and friends,” continuing to the news outlet,” It’s critical that we determine how this accident occurred so we can take steps to prevent something like this from happening again,” she said. “Our goal is to return every employee home safely every day.”
Hayes’ Facebook wall was showered with well-wishers and condolences from friends and family expressing their sorrows at her untimely departure. “These babies knew they were loved,” Darlene Tadleigh typed, adding that the kids “will know how much their momma loved them.”
Brooke Dean, another friend said in another Facebook post that there was “never” a dull moment when she was with Hayes.
A third friend added to her Facebook wall writing that Hayes was “one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.”
Currently, we have limited information regarding the collision dynamics and an investigation is ongoing, so we will find answers soon.