Pilot of Friday LA Stunt Plane Crash That Killed Popular New Orleans Fox 8 Anchor ID’d As Franklin Augustus

NEW ORLEANS, LA. (THECOUNT) — Franklin Augustus has been identified as the pilot of a stunt plane crash in New Orleans that killed a popular longtime Louisiana news reporter on Friday.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell released a statement confirming the deaths of both Fox 8 reporter Nancy Parker and pilot Augustus, according to reports.

Cantrell called Parker “an invaluable member of our community” and Augustus an accomplished pilot who “even dress[ed] as a costumed superhero of his own creation: ‘The Drug Fighter,’ to deliver a message of hope, and to help combat substance abuse,” reports WWLTV.

The former WAFB and current WVUE news anchor was was identified as one of the dead in a small plane crash in New Orleans East Friday. The pilot of the plane was also killed, reports WAFB.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesperson says the plane involved was a 1983 Pitts S-2B aircraft and crashed about a half-mile south of the New Orleans Lakefront Airport under unknown circumstances.

Nancy, 53, worked for WAFB for numerous years as a reporter and the anchor of the station’s 5 p.m. newscast. After leaving WAFB, Nancy went to WVUE in New Orleans, where she has worked for the past 23 years. She was shooting a feature news story in a stunt plane for WVUE at the time of the crash.

Various emergency agencies responded to a plane crash that happened just after 3 p.m. in a field near Jourdan Road and Morrison Road in New Orleans.

Information from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) indicates there was a fire reported after the crash.

Two people with the FAA are en route to investigate the crash. One investigator from the NTSB’s Denver field office is headed to New Orleans to investigate the crash.

Nancy is survived by her husband, Glynn Boyd, and three children. Her husband, Glynn, was also a former WAFB reporter.

Geo quick facts: New Orleans is a Louisiana city on the Mississippi River, near the Gulf of Mexico. Nicknamed the “Big Easy,” it’s known for its round-the-clock nightlife, vibrant live-music scene and spicy, singular cuisine reflecting its history as a melting pot of French, African and American cultures. Embodying its festive spirit is Mardi Gras, the late-winter carnival famed for raucous costumed parades and street parties – wikipedia.