DEER HARBOR, Wash. — Former NASA Astronaut William “Bill” Anders tragically lost his life in a plane crash in the waters of the San Juan Islands on Friday. The incident was confirmed by his son, Greg Anders, to KING 5.
Greg Anders stated that his father’s body was recovered Friday afternoon. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) also confirmed the recovery by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife dive team.
“The family is devastated. He was a great pilot. He will be missed,” the family said in a statement.
The first report of the crash was received around 11:40 a.m., according to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office. The caller reported seeing the plane flying from north to south before it crashed into the water near the north end of Jones Island.
The USCG, San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were involved in the search and rescue operations. The NTSB identified the plane as a Beechcraft A A 45, also known as a T-34. The aircraft hit the water approximately 80 feet offshore from Jones Island.
After the aircraft is recovered from the water, it will be transported to an offsite facility for further examination by NTSB investigators. A preliminary report will be available within 30 days, while the final report, including the cause of the crash, will take 12 to 24 months to complete, according to the NTSB.
The search for the plane lasted nearly 4.5 hours and covered 215 nautical miles, according to the USCG.
Eyewitness Philip Person and his wife observed the crash from their cabin. They were watching wildlife when they saw a small plane heading north. The plane turned and began flying south, attempting a loop, but became inverted. The pilot seemed to try to pull up before the plane hit the water.
“It was too low and … it didn’t clear the water,” Person said, noting that one of the plane’s wings clipped the water before crashing and bursting into flames. The plane broke apart and “instantly went underwater,” he added.
Person described the scene as surreal, “like something right out of a movie or special effects,” with a large explosion and flames. They immediately called 911 and were informed that multiple calls were coming in about the crash.
Maj. Gen. Bill Anders, 90, was a member of the historic Apollo 8 space mission in 1968, which was the first crew to reach the moon. He is famous for taking the iconic photograph of the Earth rising over the lunar horizon, known as Earthrise.
Anders had previously told KING 5 that he did not plan to take the photo. “On our third orbit around the moon, I looked out the window and thought, man! That’s really something,” Anders recalled. “So, I took out the camera.”
He believed the photograph held a special place in history. “It showed how fragile the Earth was, how small the Earth was, and it basically kickstarted the environmental movement,” Anders said. “We’d come all the way to the moon to study the moon and we discovered the Earth.”