Apollo 8 Astronaut Bill Anders dies in a plane crash

[keebird]

Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders plane crash

Retired NASA astronaut Bill Anders who took the iconic Earthrise photo from Apollo 8 has sadly passed away in a private plane accident.

[treadigraph]

Bill Anders, Apollo 8, RIP

Sad to hear Bill Anders has died in a light aircraft crash in Washington State on Friday 7th June. Aged 90, he was flying alone in a Beech T-34. I think the Apollo 8 crew were the last still complete...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw99wj5e5q8o

[Oro-o]

Sad news. A local station has video of it; possibly performing a loop.

https://www.king5.com/article/news/l...prUoT7-Jzy2p2Z

A/c was a Beach T-34 owned via their museum, N268AF:

https://heritageflight.org/aircraft/beechcraft-t-34/

[wiggy]

Originally Posted by treadigraph

Sad to hear Bill Anders has died in a light aircraft crash in Washington State on Friday 7th June. Aged 90, he was flying alone in a Beech T-34. I think the Apollo 8 crew were the last still complete...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw99wj5e5q8o

Sad news, they were the last intact crew until Frank Borman died late last year.

[treadigraph]

Ah, I'd forgotten Borman had died...

[hans brinker]

90 years old. and still flying aerobatics.

[TarsXenomorph]

Bill Anders

"We set out to explore the moon and instead discovered the Earth."

[Mr Optimistic]

William Anders, ex-astronaut

Not sure if this belongs here, taken from Isle of Man news oddly. Another plummet.
https://www.manxradio.com/news/world...n-plane-crash/

William Anders, 90, was the only person aboard the small aircraft he was piloting when it plummeted off the coast of Jones Island, near Washington state, on Friday.'

[RichardJones]

Sad to hear this. 90 years old and still flying. Fair age. R.I.P

[El Grifo]

Beech T-34 !

[Ken Scott]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw99wj5e5q8o


Former astronaut Bill Anders, who in 1968 was part of the crew of Apollo 8 that made the first trip to the Moon and took the famous ‘earth rise’ photograph has died. He was killed when the aircraft he was flying crashed into the sea, it appears while performing aerobatics. He was 90 years old.

I think it says much about him and the type of person selected to be astronauts in the 1960s that he was still flying aeros at his age.

RIP, sir, your actions touched the world and your photo prompted the environmental movement.

[reds & greens]

The Apollo 8 mission, the Christmas Eve message and the reading from Genesis; simply put, what a man.

[BEagle]

The Apollo 8 'moon show' over Christmas 1968 was brilliant! I'd escaped from RAFC Cranwell for Christmas and was glued to the TV watching James Burke and Patrick Moore's commentary:

You Tube

[nojwod]

Footage appears to me to be a medical or control issue, no real attempt to flatten out. If that's the way he went then I think all true aviators would wish him the best for going the best way possible.

[FUMR]

Yup, I was thinking that he wouldn't have wanted to go any other way.

[Oro-o]

Originally Posted by nojwod

Footage appears to me to be a medical or control issue, no real attempt to flatten out. If that's the way he went then I think all true aviators would wish him the best for going the best way possible.

Take a look again at the footage linked above, :55 mark forward. He was almost bottomed out as the plane hit the water. Still under control. The plane gets lost against the island, but this makes it clear.

https://www.king5.com/article/news/l...prUoT7-Jzy2p2Z

[meleagertoo]

Originally Posted by nojwod

Footage appears to me to be a medical or control issue, no real attempt to flatten out. If that's the way he went then I think all true aviators would wish him the best for going the best way possible.

I take it you're not familiar with aerobatics or of watching videos you imagine that to be a control issue with 'no attempt to flatten out' , nor familiar with reality if you claim medical...why not a meteor strike?
On the face of it that's as clear a case of a misjudged attempt at thoroughly ill-advised and totally unnecessary dangerously low-level aeros as you'll ever see. Same old same old. But for a 90yr old to be doing that? Even less wise.

Vale Bill Anders, one of the greats.

[Miles Magister]

And at the beginning of the video clip there is some uncommanded roll and loss of pitch rate which tells anyone with genuine knowledge all they need to know.

[DogTailRed2]

A hero that ended his life rather recklessly destroying a historic aircraft. Maybe you have to be honest with yourself when it's time to hang up the keys. RIP.

[IFMU]

Originally Posted by Miles Magister

And at the beginning of the video clip there is some uncommanded roll and loss of pitch rate which tells anyone with genuine knowledge all they need to know.

I guess my knowledge is not genuine. I fly split Ss and other aerobatics at much higher altitude and pretty much what I saw was it was too low. Maybe you could enlighten us.