A great-grandson of American business mogul John D. Rockefeller died Friday when the plane he was flying crashed near a New York airport, NBC New York reported.
Richard Rockefeller, 64, was on his way to home to Portland, Maine when the single-engine plane crashed shortly after takeoff at around 8:15 p.m. Officials told the station that the Piper PA-46 hit several trees and almost flew into a house before it crashed less than two miles from the airport in Harrison town, Westchester County There were no other passengers on the plane.
Rockefeller was on his way home from celebrating the 99th birthday of his father, David Rockefeller, the night before.
"It's a terrible tragedy," Fraser Seitel, a spokesman for the family, told Forbes magazine. "The family is in shock. Richard was a wonderful and cherished member of the family. He was an experienced pilot. He was a medical doctor, and it's honorably sad."
Seitel said Richard Rockefeller recently spent his time working with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He served on the U.S. Advisory Board of Doctors Without Boarders from 1989 to 2010 and the board for Rockefeller University until 2006, according to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund website.
Richard's father is the only surviving grandson of John D. Rockefeller, who founded the Standard Oil company in 1870. With a fortune of $3 billion, David Rockefeller is the world's oldest billionaire and is also the only living Rockefeller to rank among the world's most-richest, according to Forbes.
There are over 150 living members of the Rockefeller family, a spokesperson for David Rockefeller told the magazine.
Before the fatal accident there were reports of fog and low visibility near the airport, according to the Federal Aviation Authority.
George Ventricelli, who owns a horse stable nearby, told NBC New York that his groomer heard a plane crash into a field.
"He just heard the noise, and when he looked, the plane was on the ground," Ventricelli said.
