A Delta Air Lines pilot was killed in a helicopter crash in Georgia just hours after his wedding, according to media reports. Dave Fiji, 26, and his wife, Jessni, were on a post-wedding flight when the Robinson R66 helicopter carrying them crashed near Dawsonville, where the couple had celebrated their wedding earlier that day.
The helicopter, bound for DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Chamblee, Georgia, never reached its destination. Jessni, who is a nurse, has survived the crash, while the pilot, whose name has not been revealed, has also reportedly died.
Residents told Atlanta News First that the aircraft crashed within a 10,000-acre tract owned by the City of Atlanta and overseen by the state as a wildlife management area.
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Dave’s father George Fiji said, “It took them a while to locate the helicopter itself.” According to him, Jessni remained inside the wreckage for around six hours before rescuers found her.
“She said when she woke up, she saw my son Dave resting on her. She saw blood on him, and by then his body was completely cold. She’s a nurse, so she knew he was gone,” George Fiji said. He also mentioned that his daughter-in-law had suffered cuts and bruises but no broken bones.
“She’s devastated, but she’s recovering,” he said.
An Atlanta resident, Dave Fiji was from a family with origins in Kerala, India. He married Jessni — who he met at New Testament Church a decade ago — on May 29. Around 400 guests attended the couple’s wedding at The Revere in Dawsonville.
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George Fiji said that his son expressed concerns about the weather when it started raining on Friday. “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 said, as reported. According to George, Jessni later told him that the pilot said they would fly at a higher altitude.
Emergency crews from the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office, fire services and medical teams responded to the scene and carried out rescue and recovery operations. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has begun probing the crash and has not yet determined the cause of the helicopter’s crash.
Local reports cited deteriorating weather conditions as a possible factor. Preliminary information also suggested the helicopter may have struck tree branches before crashing, although investigators have not identified an official cause.