Georgia college student killed by propeller of plane he rented to fly woman on a date

“He got off the airplane and walked toward the front of the plane, and when he did, the propeller hit him,” the coroner says

A Georgia college student has been killed by the propeller of a plane that he rented to fly a woman to another city for a date.

Sani Aliyu, 21, a student at Georgia Southern University, flew from Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport to Savannah for dinner and back. Statesboro is about an hour from Savannah by car.

Mr Aliyu, originally from Nigeria, was one of the passengers in the small plane, which landed back safely at the county airport after dinner in Savannah. After exiting the plane, he was struck by the propeller and pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner, the Statesboro Herald reported.

Emergency services were sent to the airport just before 10.45pm on Sunday. Mr Aliyu was named as the deceased individual on Monday afternoon by Bulloch Coroner Jake Futch.

The 21-year-old was one of four people on the plane, a 2005 Cessna 172S, which landed around 10.35pm, Steve Kulm of the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

Captain Todd Hutchens with the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office said that the others on the flight were the pilot, co-pilot, and a friend of Mr Aliyu.

Mr Futch said the friend was a woman who had been on a date with Mr Aliyu. Both Mr Hutchens and Mr Futch said that Mr Aliyu also knew the two individuals flying the plane.

“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,” Mr Futch said, according to the Statesboro Herald.

The coroner added that the 21-year-old was hit twice in the head and died immediately.

Communications Manager Melanie Simón at Georgia Southern University said Mr Aliyu was a sophomore management major from Atlanta.

The dean of students and associate vice president of the school, Dr Aileen Dowell, said in a statement that “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 counselling and any other assistance the university can give.”

Captain Hutchens emphasised that “nobody is really at fault or anything, it was an accident,” adding that the student was struck while the plane was standing still on the ground.

Mr Kulm said the accident took place “after the plane taxied onto the ramp area”.

“The FAA and [National Transportation Safety Board] will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide all updates,” Mr Kulm added.