7 family members killed in plane crash, including 3 small children

"It's a hole in our hearts," said family friend Askarali Karimov.

There's not a lot of people from Uzbekistan in the Houston area, but they are an extremely tight-knit group.

Many gathered on Friday at Otabek Oblakulov's home in Missouri City to mourn and try to make sense of it all.

"Imagine telling your 10-year-old daughter why that little girl is not there anymore or school kids their friends at school, how do you tell them this?" Karimov said.

Officials at Ansen Aviation say Oblakulov obtained his pilot license in May 2018. He bought his green, white, and gold 1965 Piper PA-32 last January.

A lot of his friends had no idea he owned his own plane.

"He never talked about his plane and being a licensed pilot," said Karimov. "The reason for that was he thought if he said things, people would treat him as if he's bragging about it."

On Wednesday night, Oblakulov, his wife, their three children, and his wife's sister and her husband who were newlyweds, were flying to Quebec City for Thanksgiving.

The plane crashed in Kingston, Ontario.

"To the best of our knowledge, all of the aircraft were present. The engine was there, all the flight controls were there, the wings and tail section were all there, and now we have to figure out the rest of it," said Ken Webster an investigator with Canada's air traffic safety board.