Man killed in fiery Kentucky jet crash told daughter of trouble in midair
A 70-year-old Wisconsin man was killed in a fiery crash Sunday, Nov.8, when his military-style jet plunged into a field in Mayfield, Kentucky, shortly after takeoff.The accident turned a cross-country flight alongside his daughter into a sudden tragedy.The pilot, identified as James Alan Michaels of Dousman, Wisconsin, and his 35-year-old daughter, Tonie Michaels, were flying separate L-39 Albatros jets. "The father and daughter were flying back to Wisconsin from Mississippi," the Graves County Sheriff's Office told Fox News Digital.'WE NEED TO RETURN IMMEDIATELY,' FLIGHT CREW WARNS AS PILOT HEALTH EMERGENCY UNFOLDSThe pair had been at an air show and stopped at an airport in Mayfield to get fuel, the sheriff's office said.After takeoff, "they were gaining altitude and the deceased ...
said he was having issues," the sheriff's office said."He was going to turn and go back to the airport."A Wisconsin man was killed in a fiery crash when his jet plunged into an empty cornfield in Mayfield, Kentucky.
His daughter was flying another jet alongside him shortly before he crashed.Their planes are pictured above. (Graves County Sheriff's Office)Soon after, "he radioed ...
that he was not going to be able to land," the sheriff's office said."We think he tried to land in an open field," the sheriff's office said.However, at around 2:08 p.m., the plane went down just off Spence Chapel Road near Interstate 69 and Ky.131.
"It hit a ditch in that field," the sheriff's office said."The ditch seems to be the cause of the main impact," the sheriff's office said."The plane caught fire and actually rolled."CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIESThe pilot was the only person on the plane.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.The daughter soon arrived at the scene, the sheriff's office said. "She turned around and landed back at the airport.[Then] she started making phone calls."The pilot tried to safely land in an empty cornfield in Kentucky (not pictured), but tragically, the pl...