A Georgia college student was killed when he was struck by the propeller of a plane he rented for a date
Universal Images Group via Getty Images
- A 21-year-old Georgia college student was killed after he was struck by a propeller of a plane he had rented.
- Sani Aliyu, a management major at Georgia Southern University, was killed instantly, officials said.
- Local authorities have ruled the death an accident that the FAA and the NTB are investigating.
A Georgia college student was killed after he was struck by a propeller of a plane he had just rented for a date.
Sani Aliyu, a 21-year-old from Atlanta, had just gotten off of the single-engine Cessna on Sunday night at Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport, according to the Associated Press.
Aliyu had rented the plane that he and a woman had flown to Savannah, Bulloch County Coroner Jake Futch told the Statesboro Herald. The plane, a 2005 Cessna 172S flown by a pilot and co-pilot, landed safely in Statesboro at about 10:35 pm, according to the Herald.
"They flew to Savannah to go on a date, flew back, landed at the Statesboro Airport, and the young lady got off the plane and walked toward the back of the plane, and he got off the airplane and walked toward the front of the plane, and when he did, the propeller hit him," Futch said told the Herald.
Bulloch County Emergency Medical Service responded to the scene, but Aliyu was killed instantly after being struck by the propeller twice in the head, Futch told the Herald.
Aliyu was a sophomore management major at Georgia Southern University, a spokesperson for the university said in a comment to Insider.
"We were deeply saddened to hear about the tragic incident that involved one of our students Sunday night. I have already been in touch with his family and professors and we have mobilized all available resources to provide counseling and any other assistance the university can give," Aileen C. Dowell, the associate vice president and dean of students, said in a statement provided to Insider.
Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Board are investigating the death, which Bulloch County Sheriff's Office Captain Todd Hutchens said was an accident.
"Nobody is really at fault or anything," Hutchens said, per the Associated Press. "It was an accident."