Authorities say that a college student from Georgia died instantly when he walked into the still-spinning propeller of a small plane he had rented for a dinner date.
Officials and news reports say that Georgia Southern University sophomore Sani Aliyu, 21, was hit twice in the head at the Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport on Sunday night. He had just gotten off a plane piloted by two friends who had taken him and a woman to Savannah, which is close by. After he got off the plane at Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport, the thing that happened.
“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 he got off the airplane and walked toward the front of the plane, and when he did, the propeller hit him,” Bulloch County Coroner Jake Futch told the Statesboro Herald.
Georgia Southern University’s main campus is in Statesboro, which is about 55 miles southeast of Savannah.
A representative for the Federal Aviation Administration told the Herald that the terrible accident happened around 10:35 p.m. after the single-engine Cessna had “taxied onto the ramp area” and was stopped. Investigations are being conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
A representative from the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office said that there were only four people on the plane, which included both the pilot and the co-pilot.
“Nobody is really at fault or anything,” Capt. Todd Hutchens told the newspaper. “It was an accident.”
A college representative who spoke to The Post said that Aliyu lived in Atlanta and studied management.
“We were deeply saddened to hear about the traffic incident that involved one of our students Sunday night,” Dr. Aileen Dowell, GSU’s dean of students, said in a statement provided to The Post.
“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.”
