Melanie Georger dies in fatal Niagara Falls skydiving flight crash
Fatal Niagara Falls skydiving flight death of Melanie Georger – Obituary
Officials released the identity of the pilot who perished after her passengers jumped from the plane near Niagara Falls on Saturday.
Melanie Georger, 26, was the sole occupant when the single-engine Cessna went down, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Georger, from Towanda, New York, aspired to become a commercial pilot, her father shared in a Facebook post on Saturday.
“My beloved daughter, my best friend, and one of the two lights of my life, passed away suddenly today,” Paul Georger wrote. “Melanie was a pilot on the brink of fulfilling her dream to fly for the airlines. She was doing what she loved, flying for a local skydiving company, when her plane crashed.”
The skydiving company, identified by the Sheriff’s Office as Skydive the Falls, did not respond to emails or social media inquiries on Sunday morning. A person answering the phone number listed on the company’s website hung up. The company promotes a scenic flyover of Niagara Falls before each jump.
Jeffrey Walker, a skydiver on the flight just before the crash, expressed his sorrow over the tragic event and gratitude for his safety. “Why didn’t it happen when I was up there? Why didn’t it happen when we were all on the plane?” the first-time jumper pondered, describing the experience as “surreal.”
Walker was not concerned by the pilot’s youth, noting she personally reassured him and boosted his confidence before his tandem jump. “I give her props for pursuing what she loved,” he said. “I feel really bad for the business and the company she was working for because they’re a great company. I thought they did a great job training.”
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the aircraft was a single-engine Cessna 208B, which crashed near a road in Youngstown, less than 15 miles from Niagara Falls. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into the incident.
Fatal Niagara Falls skydiving flight death of Melanie Georger – Obituary Officials released the identity of the pilot who perished after her passengers jumped from the plane near Niagara Falls on Saturday. Melanie Georger, 26, was the sole occupant when the single-engine Cessna went down, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office reported. Georger, from Towanda, New…
Fatal Niagara Falls skydiving flight death of Melanie Georger – Obituary Officials released the identity of the pilot who perished after her passengers jumped from the plane near Niagara Falls on Saturday. Melanie Georger, 26, was the sole occupant when the single-engine Cessna went down, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office reported. Georger, from Towanda, New…