Wife of UPS pilot who died in Louisville plane crash files lawsuit

Christopher Leach, Lexington Herald-Leader on Feb 26, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The wife of a senior UPS pilot who was killed in a plane crash last year in Louisville, Kentucky, has filed a lawsuit against the companies that manufactured the plane and its engines, according to court records.

Donna Diamond filed the lawsuit Wednesday against Boeing, General Electric and VT San Antonio Aerospace in Jefferson Circuit Court. She claims the companies’ negligent actions and products caused the wrongful death of her husband, Dana Diamond, one of the three pilots on board the MD-11 aircraft that crashed shortly after takeoff Nov. 4, 2025, near Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville.

The crash killed 15 people, including the three crew members and 12 people on the ground.

Todd Inman, a National Transportation Safety Board member, previously said the left engine and pylon of the plane detached during takeoff, causing the aircraft to plummet and crash into multiple businesses near the airport. A “repeating bell” was heard on the plane’s cockpit recording only seconds before the crash.

The lawsuit claims General Electric, who manufactured the plane’s engines, should have known that the engines “were in disrepair or were otherwise dangerous and unsafe.”

“When an engine separates from a wing seconds after takeoff, that’s not an accident, Mark Lanier, lead attorney for Donna Diamond, said in a news release. “That’s a failure by the companies responsible for building and maintaining that aircraft.”

NTSB investigators have not officially determined the cause of the crash, but have shared findings of broken parts with fatigue cracks and signs of overstress. One of the parts was highlighted by Boeing in 2011 after experiencing failures on three different airplanes.

The plane had undergone six weeks of maintenance in September and October at VT San Antonio Aerospace. The lawsuit said VT San Antonio failed “to detect an unsafe condition in its inspection of the aircraft.”

The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded all MD-11 and MD-11F aircraft until they undergo inspections and any necessary repairs. UPS has since announced it has retired its MD-11 fleet, which makes up about 9% of the company’s fleet.

The lawsuit claims Boeing knew or should have known that its MD-11F aircraft “was in disrepair or was otherwise dangerous and unsafe.” Boeing allegedly failed to adequately care for the plane, which was a factor in the crash and Dana Diamond’s death.

Dana Diamond had been employed by UPS for more than 37 years and was No. 5 overall in terms of seniority among all the company’s pilots, according to the Lanier Law Firm, who is representing Donna Diamond in the lawsuit.

“Dana was passionate about pilot safety and devoted to his family, friends and community,” Sam Taylor, a senior litigation counsel with The Lanier Law Firm, said in a news release. “This tragedy was an absolute betrayal of everything Dana stood for and the professional and personal contributions he made in his life.”

The lawsuit is seeking unspecified punitive damages and a trial by jury. There is no scheduled hearing in the lawsuit, according to court records.

The lawsuit is one of several filed in the wake of the crash. A federal class action lawsuit was filed against UPS and other companies on behalf of businesses and residents affected by the crash, along with a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of a few of the victims’ families.

Another lawsuit was filed on behalf of a family of one of the victims who died on Christmas Day.