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Swedish Flight Instructor Is Killed in Virginia Plane Crash

A young Swedish flight instructor was killed after an 18-year-old student pointed the nose of a small aircraft 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, eventually becoming a flight instructor.

Viktoria Theresie Izabelle Ljungman

On Thursday, around 3 p.m., she and Oluwagbohunmi Ayomide Oyebode, 18, got into a plane for a lesson.

But tragedy struck when Oyebode pointed the nose up at too steep an angle during take-off. That made the aircraft stall at around 100 feet and led the plane to crash into a ditch, according to WMAR.

Ljungman, a licensed commercial pilot who lived in Williamsburg, Va., after graduation, was pronounced dead on the scene.

Oyebode, a Maryland native, and another 18-year-old male were the only other people on the plane. They’ve been taken to a local hospital with what’s described as life-threatening injuries.

According to HBCU Gameday, both of the injured young men are current students at Hampton and were taking an aviation class.

The school has a partnership with a local fight school based out of Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport, where Ljungman was an instructor.

She often documented her journey on Instagram.

Charlie Hudson, who played on the men’s tennis team, called Ljungman ‘family’ and said being a commercial pilot was ‘all she ever wanted to do.’

Hudson said there used to be a running joke that Ljungman would be the personal pilot of the first member of the team to ‘make it big.’

He added that ‘I don’t remember her ever not smiling. She was just contagious 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 complimented each other so well. We were each others’ teachers- she taught me so much about her Swedish heritage and even invited me to visit Sweden on day! I taught her about my African American heritage which led to many conversations between us because Viktoria was just so curious and just overall respectful.’

She added, ‘She was truly someone you only meet once. And I will love her until the day after forever.’

Ljungman had gotten her license to teach in April of this year after getting her commercial license in March of 2021, according to the Daily Press.

The university released a statement that only commented 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 under investigation. Out of respect for the students and their families we have no further comment at this time.’

Authorities are still investigating the crash.