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ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU MADISON. AND WHAT WE HAD FEARED THAT DEATH TOLL CONTINUES TO RISE. WE’RE TOLD OFFICIALS SAY THAT 12 PEOPLE ARE NOW CONFIRMED DEAD. NOW, ONE MAN WHO LIVED JUST STEPS FROM THE UPS CRASH SITE SAYS HE’S REALLY LUCKY TO BE ALIVE, EVEN AS HE MOURNS FRIENDS WHO DIDN’T MAKE IT, WHO DIED. WLKY’S DEANDRIA TURNER JOINS US LIVE WITH HIS STORY OF SURVIVING THIS HORRIFIC CRASH. ANDREA. HI, JENNIFER. WELL, ROBERT, HE LIVED AND WORKED AT GRADE A, WHICH IS ABOUT THREE BLOCKS THIS WAY. IT HAS BEEN BLOCKED OFF EVER SINCE THIS CRASH HAPPENED. AND WHEN I SPOKE TO ROBERT, HE TELLS ME THAT HE IS VERY SHAKEN UP, BUT HE IS ALSO VERY GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE TONIGHT. I STARTED HEARING THIS REAL LOUD, LIKE, RUMBLING, ROARING SOUND AND I STEPPED OUTSIDE THE BACK DOOR THERE AND LOOKED, AND THE ONLY THING I COULD SEE WAS BLACK SMOKE AND FLAMES. FIREBALLS. 12 YEARS ROBERT SANDERS WORKED AS A MAINTENANCE MAN AT GRADE A AUTO PARTS AND RECYCLING. HE ALSO LIVED IN HIS RV ON SITE. ON TUESDAY, THE PLACE HE CALLED HOME BECAME PART OF GROUND ZERO OF THE UPS PLANE CRASH. I HAD JUST BEEN IN MY RV LIKE TWO MINUTES EARLIER AND I CAME DOWN THERE TO BUILDING 12. MOMENTS LATER, THE UNTHINKABLE A PLANE FILLED WITH JET FUEL CAME CRASHING DOWN, RIPPING STRAIGHT THROUGH HIS RV. YOU THINK ABOUT THAT KIND OF THING A THOUSAND TIMES. YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN? A PLANE CRASH, BUT YOU DON’T THINK IT EVER REALLY HAPPENED. BUT THEN IT HAPPENED. NOW ALL THAT HE HAS LEFT ARE THE CLOTHES ON HIS BACK AND HIS TRUCK. BUT WHAT HAUNTS HIM THE MOST ARE THE FACES OF THE THREE FRIENDS HE’LL NEVER SEE AGAIN. THAT THREE FRIENDS. CLOSE FRIENDS THAT ARE GONE. VISIBLY SHAKEN, HE SAYS THE MEMORIES STILL PLAY ON LOOP. THE SOUND OF THE EXPLOSION, THE SMELL OF THE SMOKE. REMINDERS OF HOW FAST LIFE CAN CHANGE JUST. IT’S TERRIFYING. I’VE NEVER BEEN THAT SCARED. YOU KNOW, IT’S STILL MESSING WITH ME. AND AGAIN TONIGHT. JENNIFER. HE KNEW THREE OUT OF THE 12 VICTIMS. AND HE SAYS THAT HE’S JUST VERY THANKFUL TO BE ALIVE. AND WHILE HE DOESN’T HAVE A JOB, AND WHILE HE DOESN’T HAVE A HOME RIGHT NOW, THE ONE THING THAT HE IS HOLDING ON TO IS HIS WILL TO SURVIVE.
Man loses friends, home in Kentucky plane crash: ‘It still messes with me’
Updated: 3:06 AM PST Nov 6, 2025
A man who lived just steps from the UPS plane crash site in Kentucky says he’s lucky to be alive, even as he mourns friends who didn’t make it.Robert Sanders has worked as a maintenance man at Grade A Auto Parts and Recycling for 12 years. He also lived in his RV on the property, which became part of the crash site on Tuesday morning.“I started hearing this real loud like rumbling, roaring sound, and I stepped outside the bay door there and looked, and the only thing I could see was black smoke, flames, and fireballs,” Sanders said. He told sister station WLKY he had just been inside his RV minutes before the plane came down.“I had just been in my RV like two minutes earlier, and I came down there to building 12,” he said.Moments later, a plane filled with jet fuel came crashing down, ripping straight through his RV.“You think about that thing a thousand times…what would happen if a plane crashes, but you don’t think it will ever really happen. But then it happened,” Sanders said.Now, all he has left are the clothes on his back and his truck. But what haunts him most are the faces of three close friends who didn’t survive.“I got three friends, close friends that are gone,” he said.Visibly shaken, Sanders said the memories still play on a loop, the sound of the explosion, the smell of smoke, the terror of the moment.“It was just terrifying. I’d never been that scared, you know? And it’s still messing with me,” he said.For now, Sanders says he’s holding on to the only thing the crash couldn’t destroy, his will to survive.He told WLKY he’s grateful to be alive, but he’s starting over from nothing. He doesn’t know where he’ll go next, but he says one thing is certain: he’ll never forget what happened here. If you would like to help him rebuild, click here.
A man who lived just steps from the UPS plane crash site in Kentucky says he’s lucky to be alive, even as he mourns friends who didn’t make it.
Robert Sanders has worked as a maintenance man at Grade A Auto Parts and Recycling for 12 years. He also lived in his RV on the property, which became part of the crash site on Tuesday morning.
“I started hearing this real loud like rumbling, roaring sound, and I stepped outside the bay door there and looked, and the only thing I could see was black smoke, flames, and fireballs,” Sanders said.
He told sister station WLKY he had just been inside his RV minutes before the plane came down.
“I had just been in my RV like two minutes earlier, and I came down there to building 12,” he said.
Moments later, a plane filled with jet fuel came crashing down, ripping straight through his RV.
“You think about that thing a thousand times…what would happen if a plane crashes, but you don’t think it will ever really happen. But then it happened,” Sanders said.
Now, all he has left are the clothes on his back and his truck. But what haunts him most are the faces of three close friends who didn’t survive.
“I got three friends, close friends that are gone,” he said.
Visibly shaken, Sanders said the memories still play on a loop, the sound of the explosion, the smell of smoke, the terror of the moment.
“It was just terrifying. I’d never been that scared, you know? And it’s still messing with me,” he said.
For now, Sanders says he’s holding on to the only thing the crash couldn’t destroy, his will to survive.
He told WLKY he’s grateful to be alive, but he’s starting over from nothing. He doesn’t know where he’ll go next, but he says one thing is certain: he’ll never forget what happened here. If you would like to help him rebuild, click here.
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