After a plane crash, Quebec women step forward to save the pilot.

Lydia Aboulian was getting set to campaign with a volunteer in Laval's Sainte-Dorothée district on Wednesday morning when her efforts to win a council seat were cut short by an unexpected noise. "We both heard a big plane sound," Aboulian, who was gathering supplies in her kitchen at the time, explained.

"We were a little concerned. We peered out the window and witnessed this hydroplane crash into the lake nose first, flipping many times." Then it began to drop into the Rivière des Prairies, a river that separates Montreal and Laval. "It flipped onto its back," she claimed, describing the plane's pontoons pointing up to the sky as the strong current swept it downriver. Nobody was exiting the plane, she explained, and her volunteer was asking her what they should do.

Aboulian instructed her to dial 911, and she dashed out to her backyard, where her personal watercraft, known by brand names like Jet Ski and Sea-Doo, was docked. She jumped on the watercraft and raced to the plane, she explained. "It all occurred so quickly, I felt like I got there in 30 seconds," Aboulian added.

"I didn't see any heads emerge. So I began to panic at this time, thinking, 'I'm going to have to go in there — dive into this water and see if I can bring anyone out,' not knowing how many people were trapped inside this jet."