The pilot of a plane that was destroyed in a fiery crash just off the San Juan Islands was confirmed to be former Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, who is now confirmed dead.
Anders’ son, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Greg Anders, confirmed the death to The Associated Press.
The plane that crashed was a vintage Air Force T-34 Mentor, which is owned by Anders, who is also a San Juan County resident.
Anders was reportedly piloting the plane when it crashed. “The family is devastated,” Greg Anders said. “He was a great pilot and we will miss him terribly.”
Crews responded to a plane crash in the San Juan Islands on Friday afternoon. Officials with the United States Coast Guard Pacific Northwest said the crash happened near Orcas Island before 11:45 a.m.
William Anders was born on Oct. 17, 1933, in Hong Kong, but he grew up in San Diego. In 1955, Anders graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a bachelor of science degree, and received his master of science degree in nuclear engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1962. He completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 1979.
In 1964, Anders was selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to be an astronaut with responsibilities for dosimetry, radiation effects and environmental control.
During this mission, their command module floated above the lunar surface, and the astronauts beamed back images of the moon and Earth and took turns reading from the Book of Genesis, closing with a wish for everyone “on the good Earth.”
FILE – This Dec. 24, 1968, file photo made available by NASA shows the Earth behind the surface of the moon during the Apollo 8 mission. Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic “Earthrise” photo showing the
Anders and his wife Valerie moved to Orcas Island in 1993. They have six children and 13 grandchildren.
In 1996, the couple started the Heritage Flight Museum around the P-51 Val-Halla. It has steadily grown ever since and currently resides at Skagit Regional Airport in Burlington. As the museum grew, their two sons found a passion for aviation and joined them in the Puget Sound area to help run the museum.
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