Training and Workforce
Final Flight: Passionate Pilot Michael Donahoe Sr. Dies
Patriarch of a flying family put a fleet of business aircraft to work
Michael Donahoe Sr.
The late Michael Donahoe Sr. with a model of one of the airplanes he used to own, a Mitsubishi Diamond 1A/Beechjet. © Matt Thurber/AIN

Michael Donahoe Sr. died on June 16 at age 88, leaving behind a legacy of aviation adventures and generosity through a charity that he helped found to fly children to medical facilities for treatment. 

Born in Ponca City, Oklahoma, in May 1938, Donahoe became entranced with aviation at age 12, started flying at 16, and earned his pilot license at age 18. “I learned to fly in a Piper Tri-Pacer in Oklahoma, where the wind never blew up and down the runway,” he said in an interview with AIN earlier this year. “I got my instrument rating by demonstrating extreme good performance on flying the [radio] ranges. That was far back, 1956, 1957, but that's how it all started.”

Loading…