Chilling audio reportedly captured the final moments of a 23-year-old flight instructor after a student pilot lost control of the plane, which crashed just moments after takeoff.
The tragedy occurred in October 2022, when 23-year-old flight instructor Viktoria Ljungman died after a student pilot lost control of a small aircraft departing from Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport in Virginia.
In a statement shared with People, Virginia State Police said that 18-year-old student pilot Oluwagbohunmi Oyebode, known as “Bo,” “attempted to pull the aircraft up at too steep of an angle,” causing the plane to stall around 100 feet above the ground before falling back down.
Ljungman died at the scene, while Bo and another 18-year-old passenger suffered life-threatening injuries and were transported to Riverside Regional Medical Center. Both were later released.
The aircraft involved was a single-engine Cessna 172, an airplane commonly used for flight training.
‘Now you got your real wings’
Ljungman, originally from Sweden, often shared photos and videos from her flights on social media, documenting both her travels and her passion for aviation. Following her death, her Instagram page became a memorial space filled with messages from grieving friends, classmates, and loved ones.
“The sweetest soul I met at Hampton,” one person wrote. “Not exaggerating at all.”
Another shared: “I am so sorry for your loved ones, and I pray your next journey is one of peace and light. Keep flying.”
“Now you got your real wings. Have a good flight and journey well,” another person wrote.
In a post shared months before the accident, Ljungman proudly announced that she had become a certified flight instructor in April 2022.
As friends and loved ones continued mourning the young instructor’s passing, investigators worked to reconstruct the flight’s final moments and determine exactly what went wrong in the seconds after takeoff.
‘Things went dark’
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later launched a full investigation into the crash.
According to preliminary findings, investigators determined that the aircraft lifted off in an unusually steep nose-up position before entering an aerodynamic stall.
During a June 2023 interview with the NTSB, Bo reportedly said he remembered the aircraft “stalling” and noticed that “the nose of the airplane ‘was really high’” while “the back of the airplane was low.” He also said he did not remember hearing the stall warning horn.
He later stated that he heard Ljungman “yelling” and “screaming,” although he could not remember what she was saying.
Bo — whose friend Ashton was seated behind him in the aircraft — also told investigators that things “went dark” and that he “blacked out.”
As of 2026, no publicly released final NTSB report appears to have officially identified a probable cause beyond the preliminary findings already shared.
Final moments before the crash
Interest in the case resurfaced in 2025 after clips of the air traffic control audio began circulating widely across social media and news platforms. The haunting recording, captured by LiveATC and later shared by the New York Post, is believed to contain Ljungman’s final communication with the control tower before the crash.
In the audio, she calmly acknowledges departure instructions after receiving takeoff clearance.
“Cleared for takeoff, 97883. Caution, wake turbulence,” Ljungman can be heard saying. N97883 was the aircraft’s tail number.
Only moments later, panic broke out over the radio.
“We got a crash!” a frantic voice suddenly shouted.
The controller immediately attempted to contact the aircraft: “883, are you OK?”
When no response came, he asked again: “Are you on this frequency?”
But only silence followed.
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