A young pilot died in a plane crash just moments after freeing the parachutists and sending them off with a moving message.
Melanie Georger, 26, checked in with passenger Jeffrey Walker before he made his first jump over Niagara Falls on Saturday.
Walker said her kindness boosted his confidence and he felt confident taking the step with her gentle encouragement.
“I never got nervous, not even at the door,” he said. told WIVB-TV.
But as Georger attempted to land the plane just a half-hour after Walker took off, it crashed on the Niagara Scenic Parkway in Youngstown, New York, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office reported. Has revealed.
Melanie Georger, 26, died in a plane crash on Saturday morning.
It had just finished releasing the parachutists and was apparently heading back to land when it crashed on the Niagara Scenic Parkway.
She was the only person on board the single-engine Cessna at the time and died in the crash.
Walker said he wasn’t concerned about Georger’s youth and described her to WKBW as “super nice” as they flew over Niagara Falls in “great weather and light winds.”
“It was a freak accident,” Walker said. “Something went wrong, either he had a medical emergency or something happened to the plane.”
He said he now feels blessed to be alive.
“For some reason, God left me on Earth, and I’m lucky to still be here,” he told the local news station as he continued to wonder why he was spared.
“Why didn’t it happen when I was up there? Why didn’t it happen when we were all on the plane?” he asked, describing the situation as “surreal”.
Jeffrey Walker, a first-time skydiver, said Georger reached out to him personally and shared encouraging words about his tandem skydiving partner, which boosted his confidence.
The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office said it began receiving calls around 11:40 a.m. Saturday from drivers who couldn’t see debris burning on the side of the road. According to Buffalo News.
Responding officers and other agents found the wreckage of the single-engine Cessna 208B on a slope.
Authorities announced at the time that the pilot had died in the crash and Georger’s father broke the news that the victim was his daughter later that day.
“Friends and family, my life as I knew it ended today,” he said. he wrote on Facebook.
‘My beloved daughter, my best friend and one of the two lights of my life passed away suddenly today.
‘Melanie was a pilot and was about to realize her dream of flying for an airline. She was doing what she loved, flying for a local skydiving company, when her plane crashed.
‘To my Tweety Pie, my baby girl, my love and my heart, I’m already looking forward to the day we’ll be reunited, and I’ll have a huge void in my heart and endless pain until then.’
Niagara County deputies and sheriff’s officers found the single-engine Cessna on a slope.
She added on Sunday: ‘In the first week of October 2022, my long-term relationship disintegrated, I contracted COVID and learned that my dog, whom I raised from a puppy, had cancer and did not have long to live.
‘I used to say that was the worst week of my life.
“This is exponentially worse and will last much longer than a week.”
Georger’s friend Angela Borczuch also expressed her condolences on social media, noting that they met playing field hockey and “became fast friends.”
‘Mel always made me laugh. On bus rides to away games, I always made sure to sit next to him because he could brighten my day with his humour.’ she wrote.
“From the day I met her, Mel made it clear to me that her dream was to be a pilot. She achieved her goal and took to the skies.
Rest in peace, Mel. We will miss your laughter and your light.
Melanie’s father, Paul, described her as “one of the two lights of my life.”
She wrote on Facebook that she will have a “huge hole in her heart and endless pain” until she is reunited with her daughter.
Walker, the skydiver, also said she congratulated Georger for wanting to do what she was doing.
“I really feel bad for the business and the company she worked for, because they are a great company,” he added. “I think they did a great job of training.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating the cause of the crash.
