According to Jim Davis, Mike Davis was an avid enthusiast of airplanes. He and his father both shared the passion. Mike even designed his own version of a smaller aircraft, which was in its final stages of creation.
According to a Kentucky State Police report, Calloway County Coroner Ricky Harris pronounced pilot Michael Davis, 52, Pleasant View, TN, dead at the scene.
KSP Post One Public Information Officer Dean Patterson explained that Davis’ small aircraft had topped several trees before crashing in a side yard of a residence, located on Redbud Road.
When officials arrived at the accident, just after 3 p.m., Davis’ plane was fully engulfed in flames.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation by Federal Aviation Administration.
Michael’s father, Jim Davis, said that his son had flown into Leitchfield to visit his parents on Christmas Eve and left the next day to be with his family in Union City, TN. He also noted his son had a passion for traveling and flying planes.
“Mike had flown from Springfield, Tennessee that day,” mentioned Jim Davis. “Mike had built the plane and had flown in it a lot. He was on his way to spend time with his wife and stepson, and never made it. Mike lived in Tennessee but he came back (to Leitchfield) and visited quite a bit. He always loved airplanes and had built a dozen of them. He even had started his own design.”
Fellow traveling companion Leon Shaw talked about his time spent with the Davis’ at Leitchfield Grayson County Airport.
“When I was flying a lot in the 1980’s,” Shaw remembered. “Mike was always at the airport with his dad. I would ride together with the both of them on occasion. Mike and I would enjoy the hanger talk, as they call it, with the other pilots. When I heard about the crash I was sad. He was a nice man.”
Donna Saltsman, Davis’ ex-wife, credited him for being a good father and mentor to his kids.
“He was a good man that loved his children,” Saltsman said. “We met roller skating and got into riding bikes together, but he always talked about owning a plane someday. He always loved tinkering with things.”
Post a Comment
