Man, 70, killed in fiery Kentucky jet crash after reporting midair trouble to daughter

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.The 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.”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.”The 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 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Fox News Digital that Sunday’s crash occurred around 2:25 p.m.

local time, though local authorities recorded the crash time slightly earlier, at 2:08 p.m.The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said its investigators will lead the probe into the crash. An investigator was expected to arrive at the scene Monday evening to document the site and examine the aircraft befo...