Niamh Shackleton
A young pilot who sadly died in a plane crash over the weekend has been named by officials.
On Saturday, July 20, Melanie Georger took a group of skydivers out and while the dive went ahead as planned, the rest of the journey didn't.
Around 30 minutes after the divers exited the aircraft, Melanie - who was flying a single-engine Cessna at the time - was involved in a fatal plane crash on the Niagara Scenic Parkway.
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The tragic ordeal took place around 15 miles away from Niagara Falls.
The Niagara County Sheriff Department took to social media to announce the sad news.
Its statement read: "On July 20, 2024, at approximately 1140hrs, The Niagara County Sheriff’s Communications Center began receiving 911 calls reporting a plane crash on the Niagara Scenic Parkway northeast of the Fort Niagara State Park.
"The crash was also reported to have started a [bush] fire around the crash site. Niagara County Sheriff’s Deputies, NYS Troopers, Town of Lewiston Police and NYS Park Police Officers responded to the scene. The Youngstown Volunteer Fire Company was also on scene to extinguish the fires."
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It went on to reveal that the aircraft was from Skydive the Falls and that the pilot, who has since been revealed as 26-year-old Melanie who hailed from Towanda, New York, was the only person onboard the plane at the time.
Police have since launched an investigation into the matter.
Confirming the news of her ultimately death, Melanie's father, Paul Georger penned a moving post on Facebook.
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"My beloved daughter, my best friend and one of the two lights of my life passed away suddenly today," he wrote on Saturday, as per CTV News.
"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."
Jeffrey Walker was one of the skydivers who had jumped out of the plane shortly before it crashed.
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"Everything was great," he told WIVB of the moment leading up the dive.
"It was great weather, low winds, very calm winds. Everybody was excited. Everybody was in a good mood."
Jeffrey went on to say that he was 'blessed' to still be alive.
"For some reason God left me on Earth and I’m just blessed to still be around," he shared.
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"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."
UNILAD has approached Niagara Falls Sheriff's Department for updates on the investigation.