US news anchor killed while filiming light plane story

Nancy Parker was a popular journalist and news anchor who died while performing the job she loved for almost three decades.

Popular US TV journalist Nancy Parker has been killed in a small plane crash while shooting a story in a stunt plane. Source: Twitter/NancyParkerFOX8

A veteran US news anchor has died in a plane crash while working on a story about a stunt pilot.

Nancy Parker, who worked as a journalist for WVUE Fox 8 News for 27 years, was killed on Friday alongside pilot Franklin JP Augustus, who was a member of a Louisiana group that honoured Tuskegee Airmen, the news station reported.

A fire broke out onboard the aircraft shortly after it crashed near a field in East New Orleans just after 3pm, according the National Transportation Board of Safety.

Nancy Parker was a popular news anchor with WVUE Fox 8 News in New Orleans. Source: Twitter/NancyParkerFOX8

"Today we mourn the loss of our longtime colleague and friend Nancy Parker," the station said in a statement to WDSU.

"Details have not been released by authorities, but we can confirm she passed away in a plane crash while covering a story at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport."

Nancy Parker was a five time Emmy award winning anchor. Source: Twitter/NancyParkerFOX8

A Federal Aviation spokesperson said the plane involved was a 1983 Pitts S-2B aircraft and crashed just south of the airport under unknown circumstances.

Parker, an Alabama native, is survived by her three children and husband Glen Boyd, who serves as a Public Information Officer at the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's office. She was 53.