Cessna 152 Went Down In Heavy Fog With 420-Hour Pilot In Command

A Cessna 152 belonging to a company called Flight Time Building went down Tuesday near the beach in Daytona Beach, FL, but the company said the pilot had not been given permission to fly the plane.

The accident occurred in heavy fog. The pilot, who reportedly had 420 hours in her logbook, had not been checked out in the Cessna 152 airplane. Neil Ramphal, the owner of Flight Time Building, told the Daytona News Journal "Apparently she got lost and was flying in dense fog. She was talking to Daytona and New Smyrna (both on Florida's central east coast, ed.) to direct her back to the airport."

The pilot has been identified as 38-year-old Mihoko Tabata, according to authorities. Her family lives in Japan.

New Smyrna Beach Police were first on the scene at about 2100 EST, and officers Richard Kirkland and Kyle Burkead reportedly found the pilot still in the airplane, which was in the water inverted. They pulled Tabata from the plane and checked for a pulse, but found none.

The company is based in Edgewater, FL, and the plane had departed earlier that day from Massey Ranch Air Park.

An NTSB investigator said that Tabata was instrument rated for single and multi-engine airplanes. Instructors for the company said she was a good pilot, but could not explain why she was flying solo in the 152, other than to say she had keys to the airplane, and it was at an uncontrolled airport.

Air traffic controllers said the plane had been identified on radar about a quarter mile offshore, and Tabata had turned back toward the beach. She had said that she was having difficulty navigating in the fog and had requested vectors to the nearest airport.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov