On July 20th, pilot Melanie Georger was doing her job like usual. She worked for a skydiving company named Skydive the Falls where she would pick up divers and let them jump over Niagara Falls.
On this day, she picked up a group of skydivers and everything seemed fine at first. According to one first-time jumper, Jeffery Walker, “It was great weather, low winds, very calm winds. Everyone was excited. Everybody was in a good mood.”
Walker told WIVB, “I never even got nervous at the door ready to jump,” and he credits that partly to Georger’s confidence and skill as a pilot.
However, about 30 minutes after Georger and other divers jumped from the plane, it crashed while she was on her way to pick up more skydivers.
In a press release, the Niagara County Sheriff said they started getting 911 calls around 11:40am. Besides the plane catching on fire it also started a brush fire.
The pilot was alone in the plane and sadly died on site at just age 26.
Walker feels lucky to be alive he explained “It’s just an eerie feeling that I was on that plane literally half an hour before it crashed Why didn’t it crash with us on it Why didn’t it crash with more people on board It’s surreal.”
Georger’s dad Paul shared the sad news of his daughter’s death in a Facebook post saying “Friends and family my life as I know it ended today My beloved daughter my best friend & one of two lights of my life passed away suddenly today.”
He continued explaining that his daughter was “on the edge of realizing her dream to fly for airlines.”
He added about the crash saying ”My life is much darker today & will stay so for long time.”
According to her LinkedIn profile Georger had a bachelor degree in Aerospace Engineering from University at Buffalo & completed Fundamentals of Flight Test Course at Georgia Institute of Technology.
Watch below video for more info about Georger & tragic accident that took her life.
The Niagara County Sheriff says investigation into what caused crash is still ongoing.
