An Indian-origin pilot was killed in a helicopter crash in the United States’ Georgia while on his way to his honeymoon with his bride, within hours of their wedding.
According to a report by Atlanta First News, 26-year-old Dave Fiji, who was a Delta Air Lines pilot with family roots in Kerala, died along with the Robinson R66 helicopter pilot when the chopper crashed near the wedding venue in Georgia’s Dawsonville.
The bride, identified as Jessni, who works as a nurse, survived the crash after being trapped in the wreckage for six hours and is recovering at a metro hospital in the state capital, Atlanta.
According to the deceased’s father, his son married on Friday, after a decade-long relationship that began at New Testament Church and culminated in a happy marriage.
"My son was so happy," George Fiji told Atlanta News First.
The report said that around 400 guests attended the couple's wedding at The Revere in Dawsonville.
The crash
After the wedding reception, the newlyweds, Dave and Jessni, boarded a Robinson R66 helicopter bound for Georgia's second-busiest airport, DeKalb-Peachtree. The flight was reportedly a special sendoff for the couple before they spent the night at a downtown Atlanta hotel.
The helicopter never reached its destination and crashed in a remote wooded area of Dawson County near Mount Vernon Drive, not very far from the wedding venue.
{{/usCountry}}The helicopter never reached its destination and crashed in a remote wooded area of Dawson County near Mount Vernon Drive, not very far from the wedding venue.
{{/usCountry}}George Fiji said it took authorities a while to locate the helicopter after the crash. During this time, Jessni, who suffered cuts and bruises, reportedly remained trapped in the wreckage for nearly six hours before rescuers found her.
"She said when she woke up, she saw my son Dave resting on her bosom. She saw blood on him, and by then his body was completely cold. She's a nurse, so she knew he was gone. She's devastated, but she's recovering," George Fiji said.
The pilot’s instinct
Dave was a first officer for Delta Air Lines, and his pilot instincts kicked in before the chopper flight took off. According to his father, he had expressed his concerns about flying in bad weather with zero visibility.
"Since my son was a pilot, he told the pilot that there is zero visibility, and when there is zero visibility like this, we never fly," George Fiji said.
But the Robinson R66 pilot reportedly told him that they would fly at a higher altitude.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has started an investigation into the crash and has not yet determined what caused the helicopter to go down.