Taylor Swift Mystery Alert! Pilot Who Died in Crash Listed Singer as His Next of Kin—and She Did Not Know Him!

Swift's rep says the first the star had ever heard of Canadian pilot Michael Callan was when authorities contacted her to inform her of his death

Maybe the skies felt a bit more friendly to this pilot when he had Fearless playing in the background.

Taylor Swift was as surprised as anybody when her camp was informed of the death of Michael Callan in a small plane crash at the Nashville airport on Oct. 29—because she did not know the man and yet the pop-country superstar had been listed as the Canadian pilot's next of kin!

"The first we heard of this was when the appropriate authorities contacted Taylor's management about the crash," Swift's publicist told the Tennessean. "Taylor does not know this person."

According to the paper, authorities said that Callan had veered hundreds of miles off his flight plan and circled the airport for two and a half hours before crash-landing, an accident that somehow went undetected for nearly seven hours.

"We're trying to piece it together," said Jay Neylon, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Security Board. 

Callan had apparently listed Swift as next-of-kin in the paperwork he filed with his flight club in Canada.

The incident remains under investigation, with authorities trying to figure out how Callan ended up hundreds of miles off course (he was supposed to land on Lake Erie's Pellee Island), how he was able to remain in the air undetected by anyone on the ground for so long and why he didn't radio for assistance.

The president of his flying club told the Tennessean—which also reported that Canadian officials would not confirm whether this was the same Michael Callan who had a criminal record that included an arrest on suspicion of child pornography—that the deceased had two sisters, so they were his actual next-of-kin.

We can probably chalk it up to a blip on the radar for Taylor, who must have all sorts of fans who choose to show their devotion in odd, uncomfortable ways.

Meanwhile, life goes on. The New York magazine cover girl is nominated in five categories, including Artist of the Year, heading into Sunday's American Music Awards and last week she made a splash with her performance (and playful tush-swatting) at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show—the highlights of which we all get to see on CBS Dec. 10.