Honeymoon Turns Tragic: Indian-Origin Delta Pilot Killed in Georgia Helicopter Crash Hours After Wedding, Wife Survives

WASHINGTON SHOCKER:  An Indian origin man who had just said “I do” hours ago died in a helicopter crash in Georgia, United States. Twenty-six-year-old Dave Fiji, a Delta Air Lines pilot from a Kerala family, was flying the aircraft along with his bride on their honeymoon when the aircraft crashed near the couple’s wedding venue in Dawsonville, the media reported. Atlanta News First reports that the chopper pilot, whose name has not been made public by authorities yet, was also killed in the crash. Nurse Jessni, Dave Fiji’s wife, survived the crash and is recovering at a metro Atlanta hospital, the report said. 

Honeymoon Turns Tragic: Newlywed Indian-Origin Pilot Dies in Helicopter Crash

Atlanta News First’s George Fiji told his son’s father, Dave, that he was very happy. His father revealed that Dave married Jessni at the New Testament Church on Friday. The couple, who had known each from a decade, wed in Dawsonville at The Revere with about 400 guests in attendance.

After the wedding reception, the newlyweds set off in a Robinson R66 helicopter on their honeymoon trip to the second-busiest airport in Georgia, DeKalb-Peachtree Airport. The flight was said to be a farewell flight for the couple prior to a night at a hotel downtown.

The helicopter was never to reach its destination and crashed in a remote section of wooded land in Dawson County, off Mount Vernon Drive, not far from the wedding venue.

Groom’s father spill the beans on tragic accident 

George Fiji said it took authorities quite a while to find the helicopter after it crashed. In the meantime, Jessni, who was injured with cuts and bruises, was trapped in the wreckage for nearly six hours before rescuers reached her.

“When she woke up, she saw my son Dave lying on her chest. He had blood on him, and by then, his body was already cold. She’s a nurse, so she knew he’d died,” George Fiji said. “She’s heartbroken, but she’s getting better.”

Dave, who worked as a first officer for Delta Air Lines, had been worried about the weather before they took off, according to his father. “My son was a pilot himself, so he warned the pilot, ‘visibility is zero, when it’s like this, we don’t take off,’” George said. The pilot of the Robinson R66, though, told Dave they’d just fly higher. Now, the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash, but they haven’t figured out why the helicopter went down.

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