Horror moment Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders’ plane plunges into water near Orcas Island killing him in fiery crash
RETIRED Apollo 8 astronaut Willliam Anders has died after a plane he was flying plunged into the waters near Orcas Island.
Anders was one of the first three people to see the moon and was known for a legendary picture he took while there.
Greg Anders, Anders' son, confirmed his father was the pilot of the plane, according to KING reporter Jim Nelson's post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"The family is devastated. He was a great pilot. He will be missed," Greg said about his father while the search and rescue mission was still underway.
Anders, of San Juan County, Washington, crashed the vintage Air Force T-34 Mentor on Friday at around 11:45 am, according to flight data and FAA records obtained by Fox affiliate KCPQ.
The San Juan County Sheriff's Office said the plane was lying north to south before it plummeted and sunk.
Phillip Person shared the jarring video with the outlet, showing the small plane nose-diving into the water causing a fiery crash.
It skids across the top, turning the water a shade of yellow, before sinking into a dark cloud of smoke.
ASTRONAUT CAREER
In 1964, NASA selected Anders to be an astronaut with responsibilities for dosimetry, radiation effects and environmental control.
He was a lunar module pilot for Apollo * as well as a backup pilot for both the Gemini XI and Apollo 11 flights.
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