Air crash death of woman pursuing pilot dream

Jaskinder Samra, 21, died last week in an accident thought to have happened when the small aircraft ran out of fuel mid-air.

It came down in Murray County, Georgia, according to reports.

Ms Samra, from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, had dreamed of becoming a pilot and had gone to the US to do so, according to friends.

A tribute page set up on Facebook called her "God's beautiful angel".

The Cessna 172 aircraft she was flying in collided with a tree and hit the ground during a forced landing in the Chatsworth area at 10.49pm local time last Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.

The board's report of the accident described how the aircraft bounced, went through a barbed wire fence and spun around before coming to rest.

The crash claimed two lives – Ms Samra's and that of the pilot, a 24-year-old American man.

A third person in the plane, reportedly a British passenger, suffered serious injuries.

Witness Barbie Cochran said the plane came through her son's yard and hit the trees as she was playing with her daughters.

She told American reporters: "I can't describe the noise of the plane. It was really scary."

The flight set off from Massey Ranch Airpark at New Smyrna Beach in Florida and was en route to Lovell Field Airport in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

But according to Chattanooga aviation authorities, the pilot cancelled the flight plan at 10.42pm and asked to change his destination to Dalton Municipal Airport in Dalton, Georgia.

He did not state why he was changing his destination, the NTSB report said.

Ms Samra held a private pilot certificate, which she had gained on June 1.

Her aunt, Pam Kaur, wrote on Facebook: "My beautiful niece Kinder, you will be always in my heart RIP xxxxx."

Her friends described her as a "one in a billion" person who touched many lives.