Nancy Parker, a reporter for New Orleans Fox affiliate WVUE, has died after a plane she was a passenger in crashed near New Orleans Lakefront Airport on Friday. She was 53. Details on the crash are not yet publicly available, but WVUE has confirmed her passing in a series of stories about the incident.
“Nancy was absolutely a joy to work with each and every day”, said Tim Ingram, the station’s vice president and general manager. “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. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.”
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The station story on the passing also read, “Nancy was a part of the FOX 8 family for the last 23 years, she put her heart and soul into her work, covering thousands of stories and touching countless lives. She made a difference in the lives of those she reported on. She will be sorely missed, and her absence creates a void that cannot be filled.”
Parker was riding in a 1983 Pitts S-2B airplane when it crashed in a field close to Jourdan Road and Morrison Road in New Orleans. Reports of the incident also reveal at the pilot of the small plane, Franklin J.P. Augustus, also died in the crash. Parker was working on a story about Augustus and a Louisiana-based group honoring the Tuskegee Airmen, the revered group of African American WWII pilots. The station said Parker was “shooting a story” at the time of the crash, but it is unclear if there is footage of the incident.
The cause of the crash is unknown, but a fire was reported at the crash scene. The FAA and NTSB are currently investigating the crash.
Parker’s peers have taken to social media to mourn her death.
This has been one of the hardest newscasts ever to get through. My morning colleague and LEGENDARY journalist Nancy Parker will be missed beyond belief by her @FOX8NOLA family, her husband and three children, and the thousands of New Orleanians and beyond that adored her. pic.twitter.com/9iwrzwu5Hf
— Josh Roberson FOX 8 (@JRobersonFOX8) August 17, 2019
STILL WEEPING: My great friend, co-host&long-time colleague died in a tragic plane crash this afternoon. My 9am co host is gone, as I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this.
— Bruce Katz (@BruceKatzFOX8) August 17, 2019
Most important, please pray for her husband Glen, Parker, Piper and Pierce
Love you My RIP pic.twitter.com/7r6C905blF
Just #devastated over the death of our @FOX8NOLA #nola #news #colleague @NancyParkerFOX8 . She was a #talented #awardwinning #journalist, a #devoted #loving #wife & #mother and a #compassionate #colleague. #Rip #prayersforherfamily @lizreyestv pic.twitter.com/Zfo9Funk5U
— Liz Reyes (@LizReyesFOX8) August 17, 2019
Parker is survived by husband Glynn Boyd and three children. Boyd has issued a statement on social media, mourning his wife and thanking those would have reached out with condolences.
“My heart is shattered.The dearest and most wonderful person in my life is gone.Our Nancy was an amazing human being,” he wrote. “I was so proud of her; first as an awesome mother of our three children, just incredible. She loved them so much. This is why this is so difficult to comprehend. And she was a true professional, a master of her craft. She had so much to give. So smart, so talented, she was my everything.. I just don’t know. I really don’t. No man, but God could’ve taken Nancy from my arms. I loved her and she loved me. We were best friends. I would trade places with her right now. I should’ve been on that plane. She was our road map, our compass, our guiding light. I’m lost without my wife. My faith tells me joy will come in the morning. My joy will come when I see Jesus and my Nancy Face to Face.”
He added, “The outpouring of support has been incredible, social media, phone calls, texts and local media. Please, please keep us in prayer. And lift up my in-laws in prayer as well. Nancy was the apple of their eyes. Fox 8 we love you. This battle is not mine. I’m turning it over to the lord. Lastly, as the kids and I mourn our loss, we ask for privacy. We appreciate what so many of you have done already. We will all get together soon and celebrate the life of Nancy Parker Boyd.”
Photo Credit: WVUE
