Is the privately owned aircraft with the tail number N888KG known to be part of the investigation of the assassination of Charlie Kirk? No, that's not true: On September 21, 2025, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on social media that the investigation ruled out any connection between the shooting and the plane's flights on the day Kirk was shot. The jet's owner publicly denied the accusations that intermittent transponder data from his company's plane suggested the plane was involved in a conspiracy.
The claim appeared a video (archived here) published on TikTok on September 11, 2025, under the caption:
🚨CHARLIE -KIRK-UPDATE🚨
The clip's description continued:
Why did this plane disable its radar? Notably, 30 minutes into the flight, it disappeared from ADS-B and reappeared headed back to Provo approximately an hour later. #CharlieKirk #turningpoint #utah #fbi #police
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Image source: Lead Stories screenshot of post at tiktok.com/@ohio.dude.news)
The post implied that the allegedly interrupted data flow coming from the jet was irregular and suspicious.
The jet in question was registered to the business address of a marketing company. On September 11, 2025, its CEO Derek Maxfield published a statement (archived here and here) refuting the accusations. His post described a suggestion that the plane had anything to do with the murder as one of the "baseless theories" that has "unfairly impacted" his family. He confirmed that the jet is owned by one of his companies and that a "prescheduled flight" departed at 1:20 pm from the Provo Airport in Utah for Page, Arizona. The statement reads:
Occupants at take-off included two pilots and no passengers. N888KG arrived at the Page, AZ Airport (PGA) at approximately 1:55 pm MT, 12:55 pm local time. Upon arrival, I, Derek Maxfield, boarded N888KG, along with 7 additional passengers for the return trip to PVU. N888KG departed PGA at approximately 1:40 pm local time (2:40 pm MT) and arrived at PVU at approximately 3:15 pm MT.
N888KG pilots followed all FAA requirements and protocols, tower directions and the predetermined flight plan. This roundtrip was made at my request and solely for my purposes. Any suggestion that the flights by N888KG yesterday are in any way connected to the tragic shooting of Mr. Kirk is inaccurate, false and without any credible basis of any kind.
Regarding specific details, such as questions about the plane that allegedly turned off its transponder after departing from an airport near the assassination site, we can share updates when answers are confirmed. After interviews with the pilot and consultation with the FAA, we determined the transponder was not turned off. Incomplete flight data in rural areas caused the apparent gap.
