A young pilot died in a "fluke" accident shortly after a group of skydivers jumped off her plane in upstate New York.
The 26-year-old Melanie Georger's death was confirmed by Niagara County Sherrif's Office. They said that she was killed while she was at the controls of her plane, a single-engine Cessna, which crashed about 15 miles from the Niagara Falls on the Niagara Scenic Parkway on Saturday, the Independent reported.
Georger was reportedly trying to land her plane when the incident took place. She had been working for 'Skydive the Falls' in New York's Youngstown.
"Where it landed was just off the parkway. We look to the west near Fort Niagara, it's full of soccer players today," county sheriff Michael Filicetti said, adding that "We're lucky where it landed, but it is an unfortunate incident."
The investigation into the incident is being probed by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Jeffrey Walker, one of the divers who jumped out of Georger's plane 30 minutes before the crash, said, "Everything was great. It was great weather, low winds, very calm winds. Everybody was excited. Everybody was in a good mood."
Walker said he thought that something went wrong after the plane crashed so quickly. "It's not like skydiving planes once a week fall out the sky and you just kind of dodge it. This is a fluke accident. Something went wrong."
Walker reportedly said that he felt grateful to have been alive once he realised that he was so close to death.
"For some reason, God left me on Earth and I'm just blessed to still be around," he was quoted as saying by the Independent. "It's just an eerie feeling that I was on that plane literally a half-hour before it crashed. Why didn't it crash with us on it? Why didn't it crash with more people on it? It's surreal."
He also said that Georger was a great pilot, adding that he felt bad for the company she was working for as well, noting that they did a great job training.
Melanie's father, Paul Georger, posted a statement on Facebook after her death. "Friends and family, my life as I know it ended today. My beloved daughter, my best friend and one of the two lights of my life passed away suddenly today," he wrote.
"Melanie was a pilot, on the cusp of realising her dream to fly for the airlines. She was doing what she loved, flying for a local skydiving company when her plane crashed. She had discharged her passengers and was flying back to pick another load when she crashed. Kelli, Tim and I are devastated. She was only 26."
