Local News
Wife of UPS Pilot Recounts Terrifying Moments After Louisville Plane Crash: “I Thought I Lost Him”
A woman who identified herself as the wife of a UPS pilot shared an emotional account of the moments following the fatal crash of UPS Flight 2976 near Louisville, Kentucky.
Speaking to a local news anchor, she revealed that her husband had been scheduled to depart Louisville around the same time as the doomed flight and that she had not received any communication from him since the incident—leaving her fearing the worst as authorities worked to identify the victims.
In a heartfelt written statement, she described the shock, fear, and helplessness she experienced as news of the crash broke:
“Your husband flies, right? Is he flying this week?”
What an odd text from my friend, I thought, as I drove my kids home from their sports activities.
“Yes,” I replied. “He’s flying right now, actually. Took off from Louisville just a short time ago.”
Then silence.
Moments later, a breaking news alert appeared on her phone — a UPS cargo plane had crashed shortly after takeoff from Louisville, with reports of multiple casualties.
“I knew from her text that she already knew something terrible had happened. For the next what felt like eternity, my heart was in my throat. My hands were shaking. I was sobbing. I thought I lost him. He’s the rock of our family — our everything. And I kept thinking, have I ever actually told him that? Why didn’t I tell him again as he left the house today?”
As panic set in, she pulled her car over with her children inside.
“Hey guys, Mommy doesn’t feel good. I just need a minute,” she told them.
Her husband’s last message, sent at 4:41 p.m., simply read: “I love you, getting ready to take off.”
“I sat there staring at that text, trying to line up when the crash happened. Not a lot of time between. Was it him? Why hasn’t he messaged me yet?” she wrote.
“Babe, can you please message me? Just need to know you’re okay,” she texted again.
As the minutes dragged on, friends and family flooded her phone with worried messages: “You okay? He’s okay, right? You’ve heard from him?”
“No. I don’t know. I can’t get ahold of him,” she recalled. “My mind was in a million places. What if that plane was his? What if his plans changed? What if?”
She replayed her last message to him — a trivial complaint about one of their children — and felt deep regret.
“Why did I waste time with that? Why didn’t I just say, ‘I love you’? I prayed. I cried. For myself, yes, but for others too. This is someone’s life — many people’s lives.”
Then came the moment that broke her: video of the crash.
“A massive fireball. Unsurvivable. Still not knowing if that’s him. I felt sick. All our plans, our sweet children, everything we’re building together — flashing before my eyes.”
She remembered her daughter’s words from just two days earlier:
“Daddy makes everything better, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” she wrote. “He does.”
After what felt like hours, she finally received the message she had been praying for: her husband had landed safely several states away.
“It wasn’t him. I could finally breathe,” she said. “But it was his colleagues.”
Her relief was mixed with profound grief for the families who would not receive that same message.
“Relief for me, yes. But this is someone’s entire world — someone’s parent, someone’s soulmate, someone’s child. Someone’s person who makes everything better. My heart breaks for them all.”
She closed her statement with a message of reflection and gratitude:
“I’m praying for the families of the at least nine souls lost — people who just went to work, kissed their loved ones goodbye, and that was it. It could be any of us. Events like this put everything in perspective. None of us is promised tomorrow. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them, that you adore them, and that they’re your everything. Nine families don’t get that chance tonight.”
Her words capture the human toll behind the tragedy, offering a deeply personal glimpse into the fear, uncertainty, and heartbreak faced by those waiting for news in the aftermath of the Louisville UPS plane crash.
UPDATE: Search efforts have been suspended following the sinking of the commercial fishing vessel Lily Jean off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts, marking another tragic loss for the city’s historic fishing community.
The U.S. Coast Guard was alerted early Friday morning by the vessel’s emergency beacon after it activated in the water; no mayday call was received.
Responders located a debris field, an unoccupied life raft, and one deceased individual in the water.
Six other crew members remain missing and are presumed lost after an extensive air and sea search yielded no additional results.
The Coast Guard cited frigid water temperatures, challenging weather conditions, and the vast search area in its decision to suspend operations.
GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Authorities have identified all seven individuals who lost their lives after the commercial fishing vessel Lily Jean sank approximately 25 miles off Cape Ann, Massachusetts, early Friday morning, marking a devastating loss for Gloucester’s historic fishing community.
The Lily Jean, a commercial fishing vessel measuring between 72 and 80 feet in length and homeported in Gloucester—the nation’s oldest working fishing port—activated its emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) at approximately 6:50 a.m. Friday while returning to port.
No mayday call was received, and subsequent attempts to contact the vessel were unsuccessful.
The U.S. Coast Guard immediately launched a large-scale search and rescue operation, deploying an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and multiple surface assets to the area of the distress signal.
Crews located a debris field and an unoccupied life raft roughly 25 miles offshore near the EPIRB activation site, confirming the vessel had sunk to the ocean floor. One deceased individual was recovered from the water.
The remaining six crew members were later presumed lost after extensive search efforts yielded no additional results.
Officials confirmed that seven people were aboard the vessel at the time of the incident, revising earlier reports that indicated six.
The seven individuals who perished aboard the Lily Jean are:
- John Paul Rousanidis, 33, of Salem/Peabody, Massachusetts
- Sean Therrien, 44, of Lynn/Peabody, Massachusetts
- Freeman Short, of the Marshfield/Scituate area
- Captain Gus Sanfilippo, a well-known and respected Gloucester fisherman
- Paul Beal Sr., deckhand
- Paul Beal Jr., deckhand and son of Paul Beal Sr.
- Jada Samitt, 22, of Virginia
Jada Samitt, the seventh crew member identified, was serving aboard the vessel in the role of a federal fisheries observer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). She had recently relocated to Massachusetts to pursue her passion for environmental biology, graduating last year. Family members said joining the Lily Jean crew was her first major professional role at sea and a lifelong dream.
Her aunt, Heather Michaels, described Samitt as a compassionate and driven young woman who deeply respected her captain and dedicated herself fully to her work. “She put her heart and soul into this opportunity,” family members said, noting her commitment to marine conservation and the fishing community.
Officials said the Lily Jean had reported taking on water shortly before contact was lost.
The vessel is now presumed fully submerged.
The tragedy has sent shockwaves through Gloucester’s close-knit maritime community.
Ashley Sullivan, a local business owner who knew the vessel’s owner, emphasized the daily risks faced by commercial fishermen. “I hope people really take a moment to understand the sacrifices these men and women make to put food on our tables,” she said. “This is heartbreaking.”
Massachusetts State Senator Bruce Tarr also expressed condolences, highlighting Gloucester’s deep fishing heritage. “Gloucester has a long fishing history, and that history includes tragic loss,” Tarr said. “It appears we are experiencing another of those painful chapters.”
Governor Maura Healey released a statement saying she was “heartbroken over the devastating news out of Gloucester,” adding that her administration has offered full assistance to local officials and the Coast Guard. She extended prayers to the victims’ families and the broader fishing community across Cape Ann and the Commonwealth.
Community members and local businesses have continued to share messages of remembrance and solidarity. Taylor Hunt, a relative of Freeman Short, posted a tribute honoring the crew, writing in part: “The salt has been in our blood for generations… A man is not lost while the sea remembers his name. Fair winds and following seas.”
The Lily Jean had previously been featured on the History Channel series Nor’Easter Men, which documented the dangers and demands of New England’s commercial fishing industry.
While search operations have concluded, the Coast Guard and relevant agencies continue to review the circumstances surrounding the sinking. Officials have stated that further updates will be released as additional information becomes available.
Authorities have urged the public to keep the victims’ families and Gloucester’s fishing community in their thoughts and prayers during this period of profound loss.