The woman who died when her plane crashed off New Smyrna Beach Tuesday night told the Daytona Beach Control Tower that she didn't know where she was.

What was left of the Cessna 152 was removed from the beach Wednesday afternoon, hauled off to a hangar where investigators will comb through the wreckage and the pilot's log to try to answer key questions.

Among them, what was weather like when she was flying, and what caused the crash?

Student pilot Antonio Olear and his classmates were on the road after flight school at the same time the Cessna 152 crashed. They know what conditions were like Tuesday night.

"Overall dangerous. Half a mile visibility, strong winds coming from various directions, just foggy overall," said Olear.

NTSB investigator Ralph Hicks said the pilot was rated a certificated instrument pilot on single engine or multi engine aircraft.

"The information that I'm getting early on is that she was current with her instrument reading," said Hicks.

However, something went wrong after the pilot took off from the Massey Air Park. Olear and his friends listened to the final transmission between the pilot and the Daytona Beach control tower.

Pilot: Hello?

Tower: Hello.

Pilot: I don't know where I am. I want to land.

Tower: Maintain your altitude until you see the airport.

Pilot: "I am in clouds."

Tower: Don't worry ma'am, just calm down, make a left turn, just make a left turn if you can. I need you to climb though, climb, you're descending. It's ok if you're in the clouds but I need you to climb.

Pilot: I'm climbing.

That was the pilot's final transmission before traffic control called 911.

Dispatch: 911, what's your emergency?

Daytona Beach Tower: This is Daytona Beach Traycom, I've got a potential downed aircraft southeast of New Smyrna Beach.

Dispatch: Ok potential bound aircraft?

Daytona Beach Tower: Downed!

"She was just scared out of her mind, lost in a cloud of mist," said Olear after hearing the transmission. "You don't see anything, battling strong wind conditions coming from different ways, I mean she was just trying to find her way home and she couldn't."

Rescue workers recovered the pilot's lifeless body shortly after the crash.

Flight Timebuilder owns the aircraft. Owner Neil Ramphal said the pilot was not checked out to fly the airplane by herself, that she was supposed to fly with an instructor.

The NTSB is expected to release a preliminary report within seven days.