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A young Swedish flight instructor was killed after an 18-year-old student pointed the nose of a small plane too high during a lesson, causing it to stall and crash.
Viktoria Theresie Izabelle Ljungman, 23, attended Virginia’s Hampton University on a tennis scholarship and eventually became a flight instructor.
Around 3 p.m. Thursday, she and Oluwagbohunmi Ayomide Oyebode, 18, boarded a plane that pulled into a steep angle, causing the engine to stall and the plane crashing into a ditch, according to WMAR.
Ljungman, now a licensed commercial pilot who lived in Williamsburg, Virginia after graduation, was pronounced dead at the crash site.
Oyebode, a resident of Maryland, and another 18-year-old man were the only other people on the plane. They were taken to a local hospital with what are being described as life-threatening injuries.
Viktoria Theresie Izabelle Ljungman, 23, attended Virginia’s Hampton University on a tennis scholarship and eventually became a flight instructor
On Thursday at about 3 p.m., she and Oluwagbohunmi Ayomide Oyebode, 18, boarded a plane that pulled up to a steep angle, stalling the engine and crashing the plane into a ditch.
Ljungman, now a licensed commercial pilot who lived in Williamsburg, Virginia after graduation, was pronounced dead at the crash site
According to HBCU Game Dayboth injured young men are current students at Hampton and attended aviation classes.
The school has a partnership with a local fighting school at Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport, where Ljungman is an instructor.
She often documented her journey through a Instagram account.
Charlie Hudson, who played on the men’s team while Ljungman was on the women’s team, called her “family” and said it was “all she ever wanted to do” to be a commercial pilot.
Hudson said there used to be a joke that Ljungman would be the personal pilot of the first member of the team to “make it big.”
Charlie Hudson, who played on the men’s team while Ljungman was on the women’s team, called her “family” and said being a commercial pilot was “all she ever wanted to do”
Hudson said there was a running joke that Ljungman would be the personal pilot of the first member of the team to ‘make it big’
Myana Mabry, a roommate, told WAVY: “We were two roommates with two completely different cultures, but we complemented each other so well. We were each other’s teachers
She added: “She really was someone you only meet once. And I will love her until the day after forever’
He added: “I don’t remember her ever not smiling. She was just infectious in her energy, just lovely to be around.”
Myana Mabry, a roommate, told WAVY: “We were two roommates with two completely different cultures, but we complemented each other so well. We were each other’s teachers – she taught me so much about her Swedish heritage and even invited me to come to Sweden one day! I taught her about my African-American heritage, which led to a lot of conversations between us, because Viktoria was so curious and generally respectful.’
She added: “She really was someone you only meet once. And I will love her forever until the day after tomorrow.’
Ljungman got her license to teach in April this year, having obtained her commercial license in March 2021, according to the Daily Press.
The university released a statement commenting only on the two young men, saying: ‘Hampton University is aware of the unfortunate accident that occurred today involving two of our students. The exact cause of the accident is being investigated. Out of respect for the students and their families, we have no further comment at this time.’
Authorities are still investigating the crash.