UPDATE at 12:08 p.m. on 11/9/2026: The Graves County Sheriff’s Office in western Kentucky identifies the Wisconsin pilot who died after refueling as 70-year-old James Alan Michaels of Dousman. An autopsy is scheduled for later on November 9.
Michaels was piloting a L39 Albatros jet when it crashed around 2:08 p.m. on November 8 in a field near Spence Chapel Road and Kentucky Hwy 131 after taking off from the Mayfield Graves County Airport after refueling.
Shortly after takeoff, sheriff’s deputies say Michaels communicated with his daughter, 35-year-old Tonie Michaels who was also flying the same type of aircraft, that he was experiencing an issue and needed to return to the airport.
Shortly afterwards, the plane went down into a field. Sheriff deputies and state police arrived within minutes and found the aircraft to be engulfed in flames. Michaels died at the scene.
Tonie Michaels landed a second plane at the Mayfield Graves County airport after the crash. She was later flown by an acquaintance back to Wisconsin later Sunday evening.
Both the FAA and the NTSB are expected to be on scene today to begin their investigations into this incident.
MAYFIELD, Ky. — A pilot from Wisconsin was killed in a plane crash in western Kentucky on his way home from an airshow with his daughter.
According to the Graves County Sheriff’s Office, the pilot and his daughter were returning from an air show in Mississippi and made a stop to refuel at Mayfield Graves County Airport on Sunday, Nov. 8. They were each flying an L39 Albatros, an older military-style jet.
After taking off from the airport, the man radioed that he was experiencing an issue and was returning to the airport. Shortly after, his plane went down in a field and caught fire.
Emergency responders found the plane in a field just off of Spence Chapel Road engulfed in flames around 2:08 p.m. The pilot died at the scene.
The man’s daughter returned to the airport in the second L39 Albatros safely.
The FAA and NTSB will be investigating the crash.
