Federal authorities said Tuesday that retired Rear Adm. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic “Earthrise” photograph and died last month while flying a plane over the ocean off the coast of Washington state, was flying near a friend’s home when the fatal accident occurred.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said Anders had texted a friend that he planned to do a flyby near her home on the west shore of Orcas Island. breaking news.
According to the NTSB, the friend began hearing a “familiar” noise from a Beech A45 aircraft at approximately 11:37 a.m. The friend lost sight of the plane momentarily as it disappeared behind a tree. When the plane came back into view, it was flying south over the water. After the plane passed by, the friend saw the left wing lower and assumed that was his usual behavior. However, the wing continued to lower as the plane plummeted toward the water.
According to the NTSB, at the same time, a witness on the same beach just north of Anders’ friend’s house captured on his cell phone footage the vintage plane passing by, and the video shows the plane diving nearly vertically into the water before the right wingtip strikes the water.
Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, who took the famous photo of Earth, dies in small plane crash
“We’re going to have to wait a little longer,” retired Lt. Gen. William Anders, Apollo 8 lunar module pilot, told reporters in Washington on July 20, 2004. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Senator, File)
According to the NTSB, the only two witnesses to come forward were a friend and the person who took the video.
The body of 90-year-old Anders was recovered that afternoon.
The aircraft was located approximately 1,700 feet west of the aircraft’s last radar detection location, in approximately 30 feet of water. Most of the wreckage was recovered from the waterway a week after the crash and is being preserved for further examination.
Missing Washington pilot found dead in plane that crashed in wooded area
Astronaut William Anders poses for his official NASA portrait on September 9, 1967. (Associated Press via NASA)
According to the NTSB, Anders’ Beech A45, N268AF, was based at Skagit Regional Airport in Burlington, which is on the grounds of a museum he founded.
His son was working at the museum on the day of the crash and reported that his father was in “good spirits” before flying the “Orcas Run” around the San Juan Islands and over Orcas Island, his former home.
The famous “Earthrise” photograph of December 24, 1968, was taken by astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 mission. (William Anders/NASA via The Associated Press, File)
During a Christmas Eve television broadcast in 1968, the Apollo 8 crew read a verse from the first chapter of Genesis and wished viewers “good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless you all here on Earth.”
According to NASA, Anders took the “Earthrise” photograph from lunar orbit on December 24, 1968.
Anders was one of the first three people to travel to the Moon, along with his fellow Apollo 8 crew members. There is even a crater on the Moon named after him, “Anders Crater,” according to the Anders Foundation website.
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“He was a fantastic pilot and we will miss him terribly,” his son, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Greg Anders, told The Associated Press.
Fox News reporter Stephanie Price and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
