David Joseph Rushlow, 50, of Commerce, was killed when his airplane crashed at the Jackson County airport today, said Jackson County Coroner Keith Whitfield.

Federal investigators are now on the scene, he added.

The man was reportedly having engine trouble at about 500 feet above ground.

Steve Nichols, the county's emergency services director, said a maintenance worker heard the plane sputter and then heard a loud noise.

The single-engine plane crashed at the end of a runway at about 11:45 a.m.

Nichols said the maintenance worker had seen the pilot work on "experimental" aircraft earlier that morning and that he was practicing takeoffs and landings.

No other information was immediately available.