Young pilot Melanie Georger from New York was said to be on the brink of achieving her dream of becoming an airline pilot when she died moments after releasing skydivers from her plane. The 26-year-old is being mourned by passengers and family after her single-engine Cessna crashed on the Niagara Scenic Parkway, about 15 miles from Niagara Falls. At the time, she was the only person onboard and heading back to land after releasing a few skydivers.
The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the location and circumstances of the crash in a statement.Sheriff Michael Filicetti commented on the incident, noting, “Where it landed was just off the parkway. We look to the west near Fort Niagara, it’s full of soccer players today. We’re lucky where it landed, but it is an unfortunate incident.” The cause of the crash is still under investigation, according to the NY Post report.
Georger was employed by Skydive the Falls in Youngstown, NY, and had taken off with a group of skydivers on Saturday morning. Jeffrey Walker, one of the skydivers, described his experience and said, “Everything was great. It was great weather, low winds, very calm winds. Everybody was excited. Everybody was in a good mood.”
Walker shared that although it was his first time skydiving, Georger’s confidence as a pilot helped ease his nerves. “I never even got nervous at the door ready to jump,” he said. However, just 30 minutes after his jump, the plane crashed, leaving Walker questioning what could have gone wrong. “It’s not like skydiving planes once a week fall out of the sky and you just kind of dodge it. This is a fluke accident. Something went wrong,” he said.
Reflecting on his close call, Walker said, “For some reason God left me on Earth and I’m just blessed to still be around. 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 praised the young pilot, saying, “I really feel 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.”
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Georger’s father released a heartfelt statement on Facebook, expressing his sorrow. “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,” Paul Georger wrote. “Melanie was a pilot, on the cusp of realizing 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.”
He continued, “My life is much darker today and will remain so for a long time. To my tweety pie, my girlie, my beloved and my heart, I’m already looking forward to the day that we reunite and I will have a huge hole in my heart and a never ending ache until then. Stars and butterflies, my love.”
Melanie Georger had gotten a bachelor’s degree in aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering from the University of Buffalo in 2020 and garnered further certification from the Georgia Institute of Technology for fundamentals of flight test and evaluation. In addition, she was licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration as a commercial pilot for single-engine and multi-engine planes and was a certified flight instructor.
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the aircraft involved in the crash as a single-engine Cessna 208B. The National Transportation Safety Board will spearhead the investigation into the cause of the fatal incident.
The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the location and circumstances of the crash in a statement.Sheriff Michael Filicetti commented on the incident, noting, “Where it landed was just off the parkway. We look to the west near Fort Niagara, it’s full of soccer players today. We’re lucky where it landed, but it is an unfortunate incident.” The cause of the crash is still under investigation, according to the NY Post report.
Georger was employed by Skydive the Falls in Youngstown, NY, and had taken off with a group of skydivers on Saturday morning. Jeffrey Walker, one of the skydivers, described his experience and said, “Everything was great. It was great weather, low winds, very calm winds. Everybody was excited. Everybody was in a good mood.”
Walker shared that although it was his first time skydiving, Georger’s confidence as a pilot helped ease his nerves. “I never even got nervous at the door ready to jump,” he said. However, just 30 minutes after his jump, the plane crashed, leaving Walker questioning what could have gone wrong. “It’s not like skydiving planes once a week fall out of the sky and you just kind of dodge it. This is a fluke accident. Something went wrong,” he said.
Reflecting on his close call, Walker said, “For some reason God left me on Earth and I’m just blessed to still be around. 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 praised the young pilot, saying, “I really feel 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.”
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Georger’s father released a heartfelt statement on Facebook, expressing his sorrow. “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,” Paul Georger wrote. “Melanie was a pilot, on the cusp of realizing 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.”
He continued, “My life is much darker today and will remain so for a long time. To my tweety pie, my girlie, my beloved and my heart, I’m already looking forward to the day that we reunite and I will have a huge hole in my heart and a never ending ache until then. Stars and butterflies, my love.”
Melanie Georger had gotten a bachelor’s degree in aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering from the University of Buffalo in 2020 and garnered further certification from the Georgia Institute of Technology for fundamentals of flight test and evaluation. In addition, she was licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration as a commercial pilot for single-engine and multi-engine planes and was a certified flight instructor.
The Federal Aviation Administration identified the aircraft involved in the crash as a single-engine Cessna 208B. The National Transportation Safety Board will spearhead the investigation into the cause of the fatal incident.