Georgia woman was tragically killed Friday morning in a freak accident when a truck tire came loose, flew threw the air across I-85, and smashed into her oncoming van.
Aila Masud, 47, was killed instantly by the impact.
She was driving her daughter Sana, 16, to school.
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In a freak accident, a tire came lose on the interstate smashing Aila Masud's van and instantly killing her
Investigators closed down lanes as they investigated the accident
'It seriously was 50-something feet in the air and it came down and hit the van, right where the windshield and roof come together,' witness Calvin Williamson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'As soon as the tire hit, the van slowly started going toward the wall.'
According to investigators, Michael Green, 28, of Bartow County, was heading north in on the interstate in his 1998 Dodge Ram 3500 when the front tire came off.
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The tire flew over the concrete median into the southbound lane, where Masud was driving.
As of Friday police had yet to determine why the tire came off or whether Green would face charges.
Mourners gathered for Aila's funeral asking how such a tragedy could happen
Green as able to maintain control of his vehicle and neither he or his unidentified passenger were injured.
Authorities closed down several interstate lanes as they investigated.
Williams called the crash the most terrifying moment of his life.
He was traveling down the center lane behind the Masuds when the accident happened.
The roof on the Masud's Plymouth Voyager had been torn away. The hysterical teenage girl had blood on her and the Aila was unmoving.
Aila was driving her teen daughter, Sana, to school when the accident occurred
'She was standing up through the roof and screaming for help,' Williamson said. 'All I knew is that I wanted her out of that car.'
Williamson tried to find a pulse on Aila but felt nothing. Then he took Sana and pulled her away from the wreckage.
'She held on to me and cried,' Williamson said. 'She was screaming, ‘Why is this happening?’ ‘What is going on?’'
She was later examined at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and found not to be seriously injured.
Williamson said there was no way Aila could have avoided the tire and likely wouldn't have even seen it until it was too late.
'If she had gone flying into another lane, she would’ve hit other cars,' Williamson said. 'She had nowhere to go. She was going to get it.'
After the impact, the van veered from the center line towards the median.
Hours later, Aila's husband called Williamson to thank him for trying to help Sana.
'You could hear the pain in his voice,' he said. 'He was still shell-schocked.'
Sana miraculously escaped the accident without serious injury
And for Williamson, the images remain clear in his mind.
'It very well could have been me,' he said.
Tire failure was responsible for five fatal wrecks in Georgia in 2009, according to the state's Department of Transportation.