Viktoria Theresie Izabelle Ljungman loved flying planes. She loved it so much that she turned her career into being a flight instructor. Although Ljungman went to Virginia’s Hampton University on a tennis scholarship, she turned her passion for flying into her focus and has since built a career as a flight instructor. However, the 23-year-old pilot recently died when a student made a mistake while in the air, forcing the plane to plummet and crash.
The young Swedish flight instructor loved being in the air. However, a student mistakenly pointed the nose of the small aircraft too high, which caused the plane to stall. After the plane stalled, it began to fall out of the sky, and the young instructor was unable to regain control of the aircraft before it crashed into the ground and killed her.
The Swedish flight instructor was with an 18-year-old student, Oluwagbohunmi Ayomide Oyebode. Ljungman and her student were going for a routine flight lesson on Thursday at 3 pm when the accident occurred.
Ljungman was a licensed commercial pilot who lived in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Allegedly, Oyebode, who is a Maryland native, pulled up the nose of the aircraft too much during takeoff. Although the plane was just one hundred feet above the ground, it stalled out and crashed into a ditch. Unfortunately, the Swedish national did not survive the crash. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
Meanwhile, Oyebode and another 18-year-old student were the only people on the plane. They were both rushed to a nearby hospital, where they are being treated for life-threatening injuries related to the plane crash in Virginia.
According to local reports, both men injured in the crash are students at Hampton University. They were
both taking an aviation class with their young Swedish flight instructor. The school has a connection with the Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport. That’s where Ljungman was working as an instructor when the two young students boarded the flight that didn’t make it off the ground.
Charlie Hudson knew Ljungman from their tennis days. He played on the men’s team. He said that the young Swede was like “family” and that her being a flight instructor was “all she ever wanted to do,” so she died living her dream life.
Hudson added, “I don’t remember her ever not smiling. She was just contagious in her energy, just lovely to be around.”
Meanwhile, 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 one 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.”
The university released a statement, 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.”
Ljungman liked to document her work as a flight instructor on Instagram, where she had a modest following.