NTSB releases preliminary report into plane crash that killed astronaut William Anders

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The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary investigation report in the plane crash that killed astronaut William “Bill” Anders in June.

The retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the famous “Earthrise” photo, was in his Beech A45, N268AF plane around 11:40 a.m. on June 7 when it crashed into the water.

According to the NTSB report, the airplane was based at the Skagit Regional Airport in Burlington and was stored in a museum facility.

“The pilot’s son was working at the museum on the day of the accident and reported that the pilot arrived there that morning and appeared to be in good spirits,” the report said.

Anders said he was going to perform an “orcas run,” which is a phrase that describes a flight around the San Juan Island archipelago. He was also planning to pass over his previous home on Orcas Island.

The NTSB said Anders boarded the plane around 10:50 a.m. and 11 a.m., “a family friend received a text message from him indicating that he would be flying past her house about 11:40 a.m.”

The friend’s house was located close to his old house on the western shore of Orcas Island. She said in the report that these flights were not uncommon for Anders, but it was the first one he had done this year. The friend also said that Anders typically performs two flybys, sometimes, he would rock the airplane’s wings, but he never performed any kind of “aerobatic maneuvers.”

The NTSB report said Limited Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast data was available for the flight. Radar data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration showed a target departing from BVS around 11:13 a.m.

The report also said the target was flying a western track towards Orcas Island Airport that generally followed the shorelines. The report said that at 11:25 a.m. Anders was lined up on final for ORS runway 34, and about four minutes later, the target departed the airport area, heading southwest.

For about nine minutes, Anders flew a series of passes back and forth by the coastline of the San Juan Channel. By 11:37 a.m., he was heading north along the west coast of Orcas Island, the report said.

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