What started as a relaxing day on the water for the Maisonneuve family turned into a life-or-death rescue drama that unfolded before their eyes.

The Val-des-Monts family were out cruising the calm waters of the Ottawa River Saturday afternoon — near the Cumberland/Masson ferry crossing — when around 12:30 matriarch Lorraine Maisonneuve spotted a small, low-flying plane buzzing over their heads.

“I started taking some pictures just to show my grandson... but by the second picture I thought, ‘My God it’s going down.’”

The plane, a small float plane piloted by a 71-year-old flight instructor with a 27-year-old student passenger, crisscrossed the width of the river, coming from the Ontario side, and took a sudden dip as it made a turn, according to eyewitnesses.

The plane was sideways when it hit the water, some 50 metres from the Maisonneuve’s small motor boat.

“I called 9-1-1 right away,” said Lorraine Maisonneuve, “and my son Daniel just jumped right in the water and swam to the plane.”

His partner Edith Cousineau piloted the boat, with kids Mederik and Melodie on board, and once he reached the aircraft, Daniel found the 27-year-old passenger, who appeared to be in shock.

“He just kept asking over and over, ‘Where am I? What happened?’,” Daniel recalled.

He propped the man up on the one wing that was still above water, and Lorraine and husband Marcel managed to lift the man over the hull and into their boat.

The 71-year-old pilot was still trapped inside, fading in and out of consciousness as the water rushed into the cockpit.

Daniel made it to the pilot and was able to free the man from his restraints and get him on board.

Without that swift intervention, Daniel figures the man would have survived “about as long as you can hold your breath underwater while you’re unconscious.”

His father, Marcel, had other concerns.

“I thought he was going to drag Daniel down with him, and then I looked in the water and there was so much gasoline all over the place, all over both of them, I was afraid it was all going to catch fire.”

Meanwhile, emergency dispatchers traced the cell phone call and were able to pinpoint the family’s location, with crews arriving on both Ontario and Quebec shores.

Gatineau paramedics and firefighters camped on Chemin du Fer a Cheval — near the ferry terminal — intercepted the injured airmen and rushed them to hospital in serious condition.

According to witnesses, the 27-year-old suffered a leg injury, and the 71-year-old suffered a head injury in the crash.

There was no update on their condition Saturday evening, and police had not released their names.

aedan.helmer@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @OttSunHelmer