WNY aviation community mourns loss of local pilot

NIAGARA COUNTY, N.Y. (WIVB) -- The Western New York community continues to mourn a local pilot who was killed when her plane went down in Niagara County over the weekend.

26-year-old Melanie Georger died Saturday when she crashed shortly after dropping off skydivers.

Former pilot and aviation expert Bob Miller said people in the aviation community knew Georger as skilled, well-trained and responsible.

"I've talked to several people who knew her, I did not know her, but [they] said she was a very competent, skilled, responsible young lady pilot," Miller said. "The last thing you would ever expect would be a pilot factor contributing to an accident with her."

Georger was flying a single-engine Cessna "Caravan" on Saturday when it crashed alongside the Niagara Scenic Parkway in the Town of Porter.

Miller said the Cessna "Caravan" is a reliable aircraft commonly used for hauling small freight and skydivers.

Georger was flying for the company Skydive the Falls and was returning from dropping skydivers off when it crashed. She was the only one aboard the aircraft.

Miller said, based on data, 80 percent of aviation crashes are caused by pilot error, which can include not enough training or poor judgement. Another 10 percent of crashes are caused by mechanical failures and the last 10 percent of crash causes remain unknown.

"They'll do a toxicology — was there anything in her blood stream, alcohol, drugs, anything like that — they'll rule all of that out, likely," Miller said. "They'll look at her judgement as to the weather, was it safe to fly, did she do a proper weight and balance on the aircraft prior to departure? These are all pilot factors. Then they'll look at the airplane and unfortunately, the damage to this airplane was quite severe. Finding out what went wrong in the airplane would be very difficult."

Members of the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have been sifting through plane wreckage and debris to find a cause. The investigation could take up to two years.