Wedding clarinet, farewell helicopter and then death… who was the brave pilot of Indian origin Dave Fiji?

It is said that there is only a few moments between life and death, but such a heart-wrenching case has come to light from Georgia, America, which can bring tears to anyone’s eyes. Dave Fiji, a promising Indian-origin pilot working as a first officer at Delta Air Lines, died in a tragic helicopter crash just hours after his wedding. The farewell ceremony for which the bride and groom had boarded a helicopter to make it memorable, proved to be the last journey of their lives. In this horrific accident, this young pilot of Indian origin and the chief pilot of the aircraft died on the spot, while Dave’s newly married wife Jessie miraculously survived the accident, who is currently fighting for her life in the hospital. Robinson R66 helicopter fell directly into the dense forests from the wedding pavilion. This very sad and hair-raising incident happened on Friday night in Dawsonville area of ​​Georgia. Dave Fiji and his fiancee Jessani got married with great pomp and show among their loved ones. After the wedding rituals were over, the newlywed couple boarded a Robinson R66 helicopter as a special part of the farewell ceremony. According to American media network ‘Atlanta News First’, this helicopter was to fly from Dawsonville and reach his hotel located near DeKalb-Peachtree Airport. But destiny had something else in store; Just a few minutes after takeoff, the helicopter went out of control and crashed in a very dense forest area located a short distance from the wedding venue. Had a dream of touching the sky since childhood, Pilot Dave Fiji’s roots were linked to Kerala. Dave Fiji, who lost his life in this tragic accident, originally belonged to an Indian immigrant family and his family’s roots were linked to the Indian state of Kerala. Dave’s father George Fiji tearfully told that his son had a passion for flying in the sky since childhood and he always wanted to become a great commercial pilot. Due to his hard work, Dave first started his career as a First Officer in ‘Endeavour Air’ and later on the basis of his ability, he was posted as First Officer in the world’s renowned aviation company ‘Delta Air Lines’. Dave and Jason met through church communities in South Carolina and Georgia, where they became close friends and soul mates. The farewell took place in front of 400 guests, before taking off, Dave had expressed concern over the bad weather. According to family sources, more than 400 guests from both the families had attended this grand wedding ceremony, who were giving blessings to the couple. After the marriage, special arrangements were made for a helicopter to take the newlywed couple to their hotel to give them a luxury feel. But sudden change in weather and heavy fog destroyed everything. Dave’s father George Fiji made a big revelation saying that being a professional pilot himself, Dave had expressed serious concern about the bad weather and very low visibility outside just before take off. Dave had clearly told the pilot of the chartered helicopter that under aviation rules one should not normally fly in such poor conditions. Injured Jessney was stuck among the debris for 6 hours, her husband’s body was lying next to her. After the accident, the injured bride Jessney told the family after regaining consciousness in the hospital that when Dave expressed concern about the weather, the helicopter pilot had assured that they would fly safely above the clouds i.e. at a higher altitude. But this decision proved suicidal. After the crash, injured Jesani remained trapped inside the wreckage of the helicopter in the middle of a dense forest for about six hours. After much effort, the American emergency rescue team traced the location and pulled them out. Jessie tearfully told that when she first regained consciousness inside the debris, she saw her husband Dave Fiji lying lifeless next to her. At present, America’s National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is conducting a technical and legal investigation of this entire crash.