OWLS HEAD (AP) - A pilot was killed when her light plane crashed Saturday in shallow coastal waters as she was preparing to practice approaches and landings at Knox County Regional Airport.

The crash occurred at around 11 a.m. off Crockett Beach Road shortly after the single-engine Piper Cherokee took off from the airport in Rockland.

The pilot was identified as a woman but her name was being withheld until Maine State Police could notify relatives, said Jeff Northgraves, airport manager.

The pilot, who was the plane's lone occupant, was operating under visual flight rules and air traffic control was not involved, said Holly Baker, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane belongs to the Knox County Flying Club and was piloted by a club member who was a partial owner, Northgraves said.

"She was doing pattern work and approaches and landings at the airport," he said. Northgraves said skies had just cleared at the runway but there was a fog bank in the area of the crash.

The Coast Guard, state police, Maine Marine Patrol and local fire and rescue crews responded to the crash, which occurred in 3-foot-deep water near Crockett's Beach.

The flying club was making arrangements to recover the aircraft, Northgraves said.