WILL BE RELEASED 24 HOURS AFTER THE FAMILY HAS BEEN NOTIFIED, MONTHS AFTER THE UPS PLANE CRASH. WE ARE HEARING FROM THE WIDOW OF ONE OF THE THREE PILOTS WHO DIED LAST WEEK. SHE FILED A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE MANUFACTURERS OF THE MD 11 PLANE, WLKY MEGAN MATTHEWS JOINS US LIVE IN STUDIO WITH WHAT ELSE SHE HAD TO SAY? MEGAN. DONNA DIAMOND IS SUING BOEING, GENERAL ELECTRIC AND SAN ANTONIO AEROSPACE FOR THE WRONGFUL DEATH OF HER HUSBAND. UPS PILOT DANA DIAMOND. AFTER MONTHS OF GRIEVING, SHE SPOKE WITH ME TODAY ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP AND THE IMPACT HE HAD ON MANY. WE KNEW. WE MARRIED VERY QUICKLY. WE KNEW HE WAS THE ONE. I MEAN, HE PROBABLY WAS THE ONE IN MY LIFE. I MEAN, THERE’S NO OTHER LIKE HIM. ON NOVEMBER 4TH, AN MD11 PLANE CRASHED AS IT LEFT UPS WORLDPORT AT MUHAMMAD ALI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, KILLING 15 PEOPLE. AMONG THOSE ON THE PLANE WAS 62 YEAR OLD CAPTAIN DANA DIAMOND. MY SON WAS HERE AND I WAS RUNNING TO MY IPAD AND HE SAID, DON’T LOOK, MAMA. AND I LOOKED AND I SAW A CRASH. I MEAN, I DIDN’T SEE THE PLANE AND IT SAID SDF TO HONOLULU AND OH, YOU KNOW, I JUST HIT THE FLOOR. I MEAN, IN THE KITCHEN. AND I JUST LAY THERE JUST SCREAMING AND SCREAMING. HIS WIFE, DONNA DIAMOND, NOW LEFT AS A WIDOW FOR THE SECOND TIME IN HER LIFE. DANA, JUST OVER TEN YEARS. I FEEL LIKE I’VE SPENT MORE TIME IN, LIKE, FOREVER WITH HIM BECAUSE WE DID EVERYTHING. I MEAN, HE WENT TO MY HAIR APPOINTMENTS. I MEAN, WE GROCERY SHOP, WE DID EVERYTHING TOGETHER. AND SO THIS HAS BEEN, LIKE, REALLY HARD. DANA WAS KNOWN AS PAWPAW TO THEIR SEVEN GRANDCHILDREN, AS THE TWO QUICKLY CREATED A HOME AND A LIFE TOGETHER ON A FARM IN TEXAS. HE NEVER HAD ANY CHILDREN AND HE ALWAYS THANKED ME, YOU KNOW, LIKE I WAS DOING HIM A FAVOR. I MEAN, HE DID US A FAVOR. HIS LAST TEXT TO HER, A SIMPLE I LOVE YOU WIFE, LOOKING THROUGH HER TEXT MESSAGES NOW, DONNA SAYS IT MEANS MORE THAN SHE CAN SAY. MY KIDS TEASE US LIKE WE WERE LIKE TEENAGERS. WE WERE FIGHTING EARLY ON OR FUSSING OR JUST, YOU KNOW, WE WERE LIKE TEENAGERS. AND, I MEAN, WE WERE ON THE PHONE ALL THE TIME. AND EVEN WHEN HE WAS AWAY NOW CARRYING HIM IN HER HEART, ONE THAT HE MADE SO FULL OF LIFE AND LOVE FOREVER, IT WAS JUST ALL MEANT TO BE. I MEAN, HE ALWAYS TOLD ME, YOU KNOW, I WAS THE ONE AND MADE HIM VERY HAPPY. AND ALWAYS THANK YOU FOR HAVING A FAMILY. DANA WORKED AS A PILOT FOR UPS FOR 37 YEARS AND WAS CLOSE TO RETIREMENT. THE TWO JUST CELEBRATED THEIR 10
Widow of UPS pilot suing after deadly crash, says there was ‘no other like him’
Donna Diamond is suing Boeing, General Electric, and VT San Antonio Aerospace over the death of her husband, UPS Captain Dana Diamond, who was 62
Months after a UPS MD-11 crashed after departing UPS Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky, the widow of one of the three pilots who died is speaking out, pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit. Donna Diamond is suing Boeing, General Electric and VT San Antonio Aerospace over the death of her husband, UPS Captain Dana Diamond, who was 62.Donna Diamond said their relationship moved fast, but felt certain from the start.”We knew, we married very quickly. We knew he was the one,” Diamond said. “I mean, he probably was the one in my life. I mean, there’s no other like him.”Diamond told sister station WLKY about the moment she realized something had happened, saying her family tried to stop her from seeing the news.”My son was here, and I was running to my iPad, and he said, ‘Don’t look, mama.’ And I looked, and I saw the crash,” Diamond said. “I didn’t see the plane, but it said SDF to Honolulu and, you know, I just hit the floor in the kitchen. And I just laid there, just screaming and screaming.”Now a widow for the second time, she said the loss has been especially difficult because of how closely they lived their lives together.” Dana, just over 10 years. I feel like I’ve spent more time and less married because we did everything,” Diamond said. “I mean, he went to my hair appointments, grocery shopping, we did everything together. And so this has been really hard.”On their Texas farm, Dana Diamond became “Paw-Paw” to seven grandchildren, a role Donna Diamond said meant a great deal to him.”He never had any children. And he always thanked me, you know, like I was doing him a favor,” Diamond said. “I mean, he did us a favor.”She said she now clings to the last message he sent her before the crash, a short text that has taken on new weight. His final words to her were, “I love you, wife,” and she said that reading through their messages now means more than she can say.”My kids always teased us, like we were like teenagers,” Diamond said. “We were fighting early, fussing or, you know, we were like, teenagers, and, I mean, we were on the phone all the time. Even when he was away.”Dana Diamond had worked as a UPS pilot for 37 years and was close to retirement. The couple had just celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in October.”It was just all meant to be,” Diamond said. “He always told me, you know, I was the one, and made him very happy, and always thanked me for having a family.”
Months after a UPS MD-11 crashed after departing UPS Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky, the widow of one of the three pilots who died is speaking out, pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit.
Donna Diamond is suing Boeing, General Electric and VT San Antonio Aerospace over the death of her husband, UPS Captain Dana Diamond, who was 62.
Donna Diamond said their relationship moved fast, but felt certain from the start.
“We knew, we married very quickly. We knew he was the one,” Diamond said. “I mean, he probably was the one in my life. I mean, there’s no other like him.”
Diamond told sister station WLKY about the moment she realized something had happened, saying her family tried to stop her from seeing the news.
“My son was here, and I was running to my iPad, and he said, ‘Don’t look, mama.’ And I looked, and I saw the crash,” Diamond said. “I didn’t see the plane, but it said SDF to Honolulu and, you know, I just hit the floor in the kitchen. And I just laid there, just screaming and screaming.”
Now a widow for the second time, she said the loss has been especially difficult because of how closely they lived their lives together.
“[I was with] Dana, just over 10 years. I feel like I’ve spent more time [with him] and less married because we did everything,” Diamond said. “I mean, he went to my hair appointments, grocery shopping, we did everything together. And so this has been really hard.”
On their Texas farm, Dana Diamond became “Paw-Paw” to seven grandchildren, a role Donna Diamond said meant a great deal to him.
“He never had any children. And he always thanked me, you know, like I was doing him a favor,” Diamond said. “I mean, he did us a favor.”
She said she now clings to the last message he sent her before the crash, a short text that has taken on new weight. His final words to her were, “I love you, wife,” and she said that reading through their messages now means more than she can say.
“My kids always teased us, like we were like teenagers,” Diamond said. “We were fighting early, fussing or, you know, we were like, teenagers, and, I mean, we were on the phone all the time. Even when he was away.”
Dana Diamond had worked as a UPS pilot for 37 years and was close to retirement. The couple had just celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary in October.
“It was just all meant to be,” Diamond said. “He always told me, you know, I was the one, and made him very happy, and always thanked me for having a family.”
