JESSAMINE COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) – Those who knew the couple killed in a small plane crash in Jessamine County Sunday night are opening up, sharing more about what the couple was like and how great the loss is for their community.

Jessamine County Coroner Michael Hughes said that couple was Michael and Connie Murphy, both 72 and of Lexington.

Preliminary findings from the National Transportation Safety Board show that the two were flying a Buckeye dream machine, which is a single-powered parachute, when they flipped over while landing.

It happened in a field along Ashgrove Road in Nicholasville.

“He flew over 20 years, so I don’t understand what happened to him and where he was, where the paraglider is, he’s down in a valley and he’s not even close to the runway,” Noel Richie said. , who has been a friend of Michael’s for nearly three decades.

Richie said Murphy became interested in flying these small planes after he retired as a police officer.

He added that when he first heard about the accident, he had a feeling it was Murphy.

“That’s how I knew it was him when I tried to text him and I tried to call him 10 times last night with no answer,” he said. “We came back here later when they opened the way back up and there was his parachute. I just can’t believe he’s going to die like this.”

Chad Rayyan is the owner of EZ Pump & Go on the road where the accident occurred.

“Good, friendly people. I had known them for a long time. They both stopped here, he and his wife, and will be bringing their grandchildren here. They would fly here almost every day. I was devastated when I heard about it,” said Rayyan.

The NTSB and the Federal Aviation Administration are handling this investigation.

The NTSB said a full preliminary incident report is expected to be released within 30 days.

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