A Wisconsin pilot, 70, was killed Sunday, Nov. 8, when his military style jet plunged into a field in Mayfield, Kentucky, shortly after takeoff. The fiery accident abruptly ended a cross country flight he was making alongside his daughter.
The pilot was identified as James Alan Michaels of Dousman, Wisconsin. His daughter, 35 year old Tonie Michaels, was flying separately in another L-39 Albatros jet.
“The father and daughter were flying back to Wisconsin from Mississippi,” the Graves County Sheriff’s Office told [1] Fox News Digital. The pair had attended an air show before stopping at an airport in Mayfield to obtain fuel.
After takeoff, James Michaels reported that he was experiencing issues as the jets gained altitude, according to the sheriff’s office. He told his daughter that he intended to turn around and return to the airport.
Soon afterward, “he radioed … that he was not going to be able to land,” the sheriff’s office said. Authorities believe Michaels then attempted to bring the jet down in an open field.
“We think he tried to land in an open field,” the sheriff’s office said. The plane went down just off Spence Chapel Road near Interstate 69 and Ky. 131.
Local authorities placed the crash at around 2:08 p.m., while the Federal Aviation Administration told Fox News Digital that it occurred around 2:25 p.m. local time. The source did not explain the slight difference between those recorded times.
The sheriff’s office said the plane struck a ditch in the field, which appeared to cause the main impact. “The plane caught fire and actually rolled.”
James Michaels was the only person aboard the jet. He was pronounced dead at the scene after the attempted landing in the empty cornfield.
Tonie Michaels turned around and returned to the airport after her father’s jet went down, according to the sheriff’s office. “She turned around and landed back at the airport. [Then] she started making phone calls.”
She later arrived at the crash scene, the sheriff’s office said. What had begun as a shared flight back to Wisconsin from Mississippi had become a sudden family tragedy.
The National Transportation Safety Board said its investigators will lead the probe into the fatal crash. An investigator was expected to arrive at the scene Monday evening to document the location and examine the aircraft.
The aircraft was then expected to be recovered and moved to a secure facility for additional evaluation. The agency said its investigations focus on three primary areas: the pilot, the aircraft and the operating environment.
Investigators will collect flight tracking data, air traffic control communications, aircraft maintenance records, witness statements and information about weather conditions. They also plan to review the pilot’s license, ratings and recency of flight experience.
The NTSB said investigators will conduct a 72 hour background check to determine whether any issues could have affected the pilot’s ability to operate the flight safely. During the investigation at the scene, the agency does not determine or speculate about the accident’s cause.
A probable cause and any contributing factors will be detailed in the NTSB’s final report. That report is expected to be completed in 12 to 24 months.
The father and daughter had survived another aviation accident 16 years before the Kentucky crash. News reports at the time said they survived a small plane crash in a remote section of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
On July 8, 2010, James Michaels was piloting a single engine aircraft with Tonie Michaels as his passenger when they encountered a severe downdraft. They made a crash landing in heavy timber in Forest Canyon while flying toward Aspen, according to a National Park Service Summary Report cited through an NTSB docket.
Both escaped the 2010 crash with minor cuts and scratches. Stranded overnight during evening storms, they used branches and wreckage sheared from the plane to construct a shelter, according to reporting by The Denver Post at the time.