One of the victims in Wednesday's deadly UPS cargo jet crash in Alabama has been identified as Shanda Fanning, a 37-year-old pilot from Lynchburg, Tenn.
Fanning and another crew member still unidentified were killed Wednesday morning after a
UPS plane took off from its hub in Louisville, Ky., and crashed just a half-mile short of the airport in Birmingham, Ala. The two pilots were the only passengers on board.
Wes Fanning, Shanda Fanning's brother-in-law, confirmed that she was
one of the two people who died in the crash, according to the Courier-Journal.com.
One neighbor called her a "very, very sweet, loving, outgoing, vibrant young lady."
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Fanning lived on a farm with her husband Bret. The two had been married for years but had no children, and Fanning had begun flying as a teenager and always had a passion for aviation, friends said.
"She did everything right," Gina White, a former flight instructor, told the Courier-Journal.com, adding that Fanning "was an excellent pilot."
It's not yet clear what led to the crash that killed Fanning and the other pilot. There is no evidence that either pilot issued a distress call at any time before the crash, according to the Courier-Journal.com.
The National Transportation Safety Board will begin its investigation by collecting evidence from the wreckage, pulling the "black box" recordings, and examining every aspect of the plane, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt told the Courier-Journal.com.
The plane, an Airbus A300 F4-622R cargo jet, reportedly had a number of service difficulty incidents, including mechanical and structural issues, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
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