Jet pilot dies after crash near Kentucky airport
The L-39 Albatros went down in a field shortly after the pilot reported an issue during takeoff.
By Khalid Khalil ·
A pilot died on November 9 when his jet crashed into a field near the Mayfield Graves County Airport in southwest Kentucky. The accident occurred at 2:08 p.m. local time when 911 dispatchers received calls about a plane fire near the intersection of Interstate 69 and Kentucky Highway 131. First responders located the aircraft burning in a field off Spence Chapel Road.
The plane was an L-39 Albatros, a military-style jet from the Cold War era. The pilot was the only person on board. The Graves County Sheriff's Office has not yet released his name. Both the pilot and his daughter are from Wisconsin. They were returning from an airshow in Mississippi. The pair stopped at the Mayfield airport to refuel. The daughter was flying a second L-39 Albatros.
After taking off, the pilot radioed that he was experiencing a problem. He announced he was returning to the airport. The aircraft crashed shortly after that communication. The daughter's plane returned to the runway and landed safely. The sheriff's office confirmed the pilot died in the crash.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board have been notified. Both agencies are responding to the scene to investigate the cause of the crash. The timeline of the event moved quickly from the refueling stop to the fatal impact. The two aircraft had been operating in close proximity during the departure sequence. The primary focus for investigators is the mechanical issue reported by the pilot.
