NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – A 38-year-old woman died Tuesday night when a small plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean just off New Smyrna Beach, according to officials.
[AUDIO: Tower transmissions ]
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office on Thursday said Mihoko Tabata died in the crash. Based on preliminary results of an autopsy, her death was the result of injuries sustained in the crash, deputies said.
The Sheriff's Office said Tabata is from Japan, although she had been living in the United States off and on.
The Cessna 152, which was rented by Tabata from Flight Time Rentals in Edgewater, crashed around 9 p.m. Tuesday amid dense fog in the area.
Audio of the final moments between Tabata and the air traffic controller who attempted to guide her through the tough conditions were released Wednesday night.
"I don't know where I am. I want to land," Tabata said to the air traffic controller. "I can't see (the) airport. I can't see."
The air traffic controller then began to help navigate her and the plane to the nearest airport.
"OK, don't worry. Don't worry. Don't worry. Don't worry, ma'am. Just calm down. Calm down. Make a left turn, make a left turn if you can. Climb though. I need you to climb. You're descending. It's OK if you're in the clouds, but I need you to climb. I want you to climb," said the air traffic controller.
The tower told her every light was on at the New Smyrna Beach Airport to help guide her.
"Make the turn and let me know if you see the lights on," said the air traffic controller. Soon after, the tower lost contact.
Tabata's body was pulled from the water by New Smyrna Beach police officers, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said. She was the sole occupant of the plane.
The plane took off from the Massey Ranch Airpark in Edgewater, and just prior to the crash the Daytona Beach tower reported getting a final radar hit from the plane about a quarter-mile offshore as it was turning back toward the beach, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.
During flight, Tabata had contacted the tower indicating that she was having difficulty navigating through the weather and was trying to find the nearest airport to land the plane.
Local 6 has learned Tabata was a certified pilot and was never given permission to fly the Cessna by herself.
Crash debris lined the beach near Flagler Avenue and deputies spent the night searching the beach for other pieces of the airplane.
"It makes me feel really bad because I'm in the (pilot) industry myself and I'm graduating in two months," said Ali Foolath, who witnessed the crash. "It sounded like a Corvette engine because it was so close, and it just crashed."
Officials with the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board will continue to investigate what caused the Cessna 152 to crash.
Authorities released the 911 calls reporting the crash.
"In New Smyrna Beach in the ocean, a plane has crashed," the caller told dispatchers. "I see people with a flashlight and it looks like somebody on the beach maybe, laying there."
Neil Ramphal, owner of Flight Time Rentals where Tabata rented the plane from, said Tabata was a financial accountant and was changing careers to become a commercial pilot. She was finishing her hours at his school.
"She was a very nice person, awesome pilot, and flew beautifully," he said.
Ramphal said Tabata was not ready to fly on her own because she didn't have enough hours and didn't speak English well enough to communicate.
Ramphal told Local 6 an instructor alerted him that Tabata took the plane without telling anyone and returned around 5 p.m. before the weather got worse.
However, Ramphal said Tabata went back up in the air around 8 p.m. without anyone knowing. He called and texted Tabata but never got a response.
Ramphal said he was notified about the crash by the Coast Guard.
According to Ramphal, the NTSB released the plane to him on Thursday and told him there wasn't anything mechanically wrong with it.