NIAGARA, New York (NV) – Before a plane crashed on the morning of Saturday, July 20 in Porter town, a man from Elma town jumped out half an hour before, according to WIVB.
Jeffrey Walker, who was skydiving for the first time Saturday, said he woke up feeling fine that morning. He arrived at Skydive the Falls, a skydiving center in Youngstown, around 9:20 a.m.
Skydive the Falls opened in June 2019. They offer a unique service, flying visitors up high to enjoy the view of Niagara Falls before each skydive.
“Everything was calm,” Walker said. “The weather was mild, the wind was cool and gentle. Everyone was in high spirits and happy.”
Although Saturday was Walker’s first time skydiving, he said he never felt scared, which is strange because he is usually an anxious person.
“I wasn’t even nervous about the jump,” Walker said. “I don’t even remember what I was thinking.”
Just 30 minutes later, the unexpected happened: the plane carrying Walker took off to parachute and crashed, killing the female pilot. On Sunday, the victim was identified as Melanie Georger, 26, of Tonawanda.
“Around 11:40 a.m., we began receiving multiple 911 calls reporting a plane crash just east of Fort Niagara on the Niagara Scenic Parkway,” said Niagara County Sheriff Michael Filicetti. “Upon arrival, we located a plane [bị] crashed. Unfortunately, there was one fatality. There was a pilot on board and that is the confirmed fatality.”
The Niagara County Sheriff’s Office also stressed that the plane crashed very close to several major highways. Filicetti said if the plane had crashed just a few hundred feet away, the situation could have been much worse.
“The crash site was right on the edge of the highway. We looked west near Fort Niagara and saw a lot of soccer players,” Filicetti said. “It was lucky that the crash site was there, but it was a very unfortunate accident.”
All the skydivers had jumped from the plane before the crash. When asked if the tragedy would have been different if Walker had gone skydiving again, he said no.
“It’s not like a skydiving plane that crashes once a week and people think they should dodge it,” Walker said. “It was a close call.”
After hearing the news, Walker said he was glad to be alive and heartbroken to know that something bad had almost happened to him.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be in Porter to investigate the accident.
Police sealed off the crash site until the investigation is complete. (TTHN)