A college student died when he walked into the propeller of a small airplane he had rented for a dinner date at an airport in southeast Georgia, authorities said.

Sani Aliyu, a sophomore student at Georgia Southern University, Atlanta, and a young woman had flown on the single-engine Cessna to nearby Savannah and back on a date, Bulloch County Coroner Jake Futch told local news newspaper.

‘’The plane landed safely on the return trip to Statesboro, the woman 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.”

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Board are investigating the death Sunday night at Statesboro-Bulloch County Airport, FAA spokesman Steve Kulm said.

Dr. Aileen Dowell, GSU’s dean of students, said in a statement: “We were deeply saddened to hear about the traffic 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.”

 A pilot and co-pilot had flown the couple, said Capt. Todd Hutchens of the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office. He said deputies were sharing information they gathered with the FAA and NTSB.

“Nobody is really at fault or anything,” Hutchens said. “It was an accident.