On July 20th, pilot Melanie Georger was doing her job as usual. She worked for a skydiving company called Skydive the Falls where she would pick up skydivers and let them jump over Niagara Falls.

On this fateful day, she picked up a group of skydivers, and everything was fine at first. According to one first time skydiver, Jeffery Walker, “It was great weather, low winds, very calm winds. Everybody 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 and her confidence and skill as a pilot.

However, 30 minutes after Georger and other skydivers jumped from the plane, the plane crashed as Georger was on her way to pick up more skydivers.

In a press release, the Niagara County Sheriff reports that they started receiving 911 calls around 11:40am. In addition to the plane catching on fire, it also started a brush fire.

The pilot was the only person on the plane, and she died on site. Georger was only 26 years old.

 

Walker feels lucky to be alive. He explained, “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.”

Georger’s dad, Paul Georger, shared the tragic news of his daughter’s death in a Facebook post. He wrote, “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 went on to explain that his daughter was “on the cusp of realizing her dream to fly for the airlines.”

He shared the news of the crash and added, “My life is much darker today and will remain so for a long time.”

According to her LinkedIn profile, Georger had a bachelors degree in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University at Buffalo and she also completed the Fundamentals of Flight Test and Evaluation Professional Course at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Watch the video below to learn more about Georger and the tragic plane crash that took her life.

The Niagara County Sheriff reports that the investigation into what caused the crash is still ongoing.