Douglas Emge, the 62-year-old owner of a flight school in Alabama, has died after the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed near a water tank in DeKalb County. He was the only person on board and ran Albertville Aviation Inc, a business offering flying lessons to beginners, meaning the loss is being felt within the local aviation and training community he served.

The crash occurred at around 6.50am near Albertville in the Whiton community, when Emge's Van's RV-4 aircraft went down in a field. Authorities including the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office and Emergency Management Agency responded to the scene and have since notified his family, while nearby residents described hearing the aircraft shortly before the crash. The cause remains undetermined, with the National Transportation Safety Board due to send an investigator to examine the wreckage and the Federal Aviation Administration expected to issue a preliminary report within a day.