Award-winning local Fox anchor, 53, is killed along with her pilot after stunt plane they were flying in for a story crashes near a New Orleans airport
- WVUE-TV confirms that Nancy Parker died in the plane crash on Friday
- Her small plane went down at Lakefront Airport outside of New Orleans
- The journalist was shooting a story in the plane when it crash landed
- She had worked for the station for 23 years and leaves behind three children
A New Orleans TV journalist and the pilot of a small plane have been killed after their aircraft went down Friday in a field near a city airport.
WVUE-TV confirms that Nancy Parker, a reporter and anchor at the television station for 23 years, was killed in the crash near Lakefront Airport, which accommodates smaller aircraft.
The station said the 53-year-old journalist was shooting a story in a stunt plane when it crashed. Veteran stunt pilot Franklin J.P. Augustus was also killed.
Fox 8 anchor Lee Zurik choked back tears as he announced Parker's death on air and said his colleague was on the plane 'doing what she loved, telling a story'.
WVUE-TV confirms that Nancy Parker, a reporter and anchor at the television station for 23 years, was killed in the crash near Lakefront Airport, Louisiana, which accommodates smaller aircraft
The station said the 53-year-old journalist was shooting a story in a stunt plane when it crashed
A Federal Aviation Administration statement said the plane was a 1983 Pitts S-2B aircraft that crashed in an empty field about a half-mile south of the airport, which accommodates smaller aircraft, under unknown circumstances. That model aircraft is a biplane.
New Orleans Homeland Security Director Collin Arnold told reporters the plane crashed about 3pm, causing a fire.
'It looks like the plane is completely charred,' said Gerald Herbert, an Associated Press photographer who also is a pilot and has a hangar at Lakefront Airport. He went to the site and described charred debris lying near a fence in a grassy field.
The charred wreckage of a private plane is seen in a field near the Industrial Canal and New Orleans Lakefront airport, in New Orleans
Veteran stunt pilot Franklin J.P. Augustus (pictured) was also killed
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Numerous emergency responders were on scene, including the city's fire and police departments and emergency medical personnel.
A National Transportation Safety Board representative was expected Saturday to begin an investigation.
Augustus was reportedly one of the world's few African-American stunt pilots. He was president of the Lake Charles Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen Inc., which honors the famous African-American pilots from World War II.
Parker is survived by her husband, Glyn Boyd, and three children.
FOX 8 Vice President and General Manager Tim Ingram called Parker 'a joy to work with'.
'Today we lost a wonderful journalist and remarkable friend, the New Orleans television community lost a true treasure, but beyond that, her family lost a wife, a mother and daughter,' Ingram said.
'Our thoughts and prayers are with them.'
A National Transportation Safety Board representative was expected Saturday to begin an investigation. The scene of the crash is pictured above
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