NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — An investigation at a Virginia airport has revealed that a student pilot was flying a small plane when it crashed, killing the flight instructor, Virginia State Police said in a statement Friday.
The crash occurred upon takeoff Thursday afternoon at the Newport News-Williamsburg Airport.
The single-engine Cessna 172 was piloted by Oluwagbohunmi Ayomide Oyebode, 18, state police said. During take off, Oyebode tried to pull the craft up at too steep of an angle. That caused the engine to stall in the air, and the aircraft crashed. It had reached an altitude of about 100 feet.
Oyebode, of Hanover, Maryland, suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital, state police said. The flight instructor who died was Viktoria Theresie Izabelle Ljungman, 23, of Williamsburg, Virginia. Another 18-year-old male student who was on board was also taken to a hospital.