Georgia College Student Killed 'Instantly' by Plane Propeller During Extravagant Dinner Date
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A college sophomore in Georgia is dead after he was hit by an airplane's propeller at a local airport while on a date.
Sani Aliyu, 21, rented an airplane from the Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport for a dinner date on Sunday, Oct. 16, Bulloch County Coroner Jake Futch said, according to Macon, Georgia's The Telegraph.
Aliyu — a sophomore management major at Georgia Southern University — flew on a Cessna plane to Savannah with a young woman. The Georgia town is a little more than an hour away from the airport, per the outlet.
Futch said that once the pair returned from Savannah around 10:30 p.m., the unidentified woman went to the rear of the plane.
"(Aliyu) got out and walked toward the front," Futch told The Telegraph. "And when he did, the propeller hit him in the head, killing him instantly."
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Futch did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
The Bulloch County Emergency Medical Service arrived at the scene with an ambulance, however, Aliyu had already died after being hit twice with the propeller, Futch said, according to Statesboro Herald.
"A single-engine Cessna 172 with four people on board landed without incident at Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport in Statesboro, Ga., around 10:35 p.m. local time Sunday. After the plane taxied to the ramp area, a passenger got out and was struck by the propeller," the Federal Aviation Administration tells PEOPLE in a statement.
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"We can confirm an incident occurred, and that appropriate investigations are underway," the Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport also tells PEOPLE.
Bulloch County Sheriff's Office's captain Todd Hutchens told Statesboro Herald that Aliyu, who lived in Atlanta, was acquainted with the pilot and co-pilot. Other than Aliyu, no one else on the plane has been identified.
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"Nobody is really at fault or anything, it was an accident, so we just have to communicate all of our information with them," Hutchens said.
When reached by PEOPLE, the Bulloch County Sheriff's Office said it could not provide any details at the time.
FAA spokesperson Steve Kulm told the outlet that the incident happened "after the plane taxied onto the ramp area."
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"The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The NTSB will be in charge of the investigation and will provide all updates."
Addressing the death in a statement, Georgia Southern University's dean of students and associate vice president, Dr. Aileen C. Dowell, said, per Statesboro Herald: "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 counseling and any other assistance the university can give."
The university did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
