Shanda Fanning: Dead UPS Pilot ‘Lived And Breathed Aviation’

Shanda Fanning has been identified by family members as one of the pilots who died in the UPS cargo plane crash on Wednesday.

Fanning,37, lived in Lynchburg, Tennessee but grew up in Shelbyville, according to FOX6 News. Her husband, Brett, works at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg. The couple have no children.

She graduated from Shelbyville High School and Middle Tennessee State University. Fanning worked at the Shelbyville Municipal Airport from 1999-2002 and was very enthusiastic about flying; she earned her pilot’s license in 1997.

Shand Fanning lived with her husband on a farm. People remember her as a sweet, loving woman who had been flying since she was a teenager.

Buford Jennings, a family friend, said, “As a small child Shanda had a fascination with flying … she grew up determined she was going to fly.”

The general manager of the airport says Fanning lived and breathed aviation.

The local sheriff in Lynchburg said the entire community is saddened by this news. He called Fanning a refreshing spirit, down to earth and well-known in the community. Fanning’s cousin is also the mayor of the town.

We recently reported in The Inquistr that the National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) where having difficulty recovering the fight recorder.

Until they do, the mystery of what happened to the UPS plane that caused it to crash, remains unsolved; we just have to wait to find out why Shanda Fanning died so tragically.