GlassAir mishap
01-16-2010, 05:26 PM
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GlassAir mishap
Bill Foster was a family friend. Please keep this aviation family in your thoughts.
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From the Republican-American newpaper
OXFORD — A man who helped to design the space shuttle's engine systems died in Wednesday night's plane crash near Waterbury-Oxford Airport.
Police said John W. "Bill" Foster, 50, of Bethesda, Md., was the only person aboard the plane that crashed after hitting high-tension wires near Commerce Drive, about a quarter-mile south of the airport. Foster was taken to Waterbury Hospital after the crash; he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Foster worked as a lobbyist for FuelCell Energy, a Danbury-based renewable energy company. The company was scheduled to host an event in Torrington on Thursday morning with U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, but the event was canceled. It was unclear if Foster was planning to attend.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were investigating the crash Thursday.
When firefighters arrived at the scene of the crash Wednesday, Foster was in cardiac arrest inside the plane, according to Fire Chief Scott Pelletier.
Resident Trooper Sgt. Daniel Semosky said an autopsy determined Foster died of multiple blunt trauma. Next of kin were notified with the help of Maryland police, he said.
Semosky said the airplane broke up in three pieces: the wings, fuselage and engine. It glanced off a small gray structure on the site and then landed behind it inside the substation compound, he said.
Pelletier said the majority of the debris from the airplane was located in the substation.
A telephone number listed to an address Foster registered for the plane was disconnected.
Before working at FuelCell, Foster worked for both Boeing and NASA, where he was the lead engineer responsible for the Space Shuttle Main Engine Test Program.
He is survived by his wife, Rainey Foster, and two college-aged children, John and Katy.
A statement from Foster's family said that Foster had more than 20 years of flight experience and built the GlassAir III plane from a kit, investing more than 2,000 hours in its construction. The family said the plane "had been a dream of his to own."
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USMCFLYR
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From the Republican-American newpaper
OXFORD — A man who helped to design the space shuttle's engine systems died in Wednesday night's plane crash near Waterbury-Oxford Airport.
Police said John W. "Bill" Foster, 50, of Bethesda, Md., was the only person aboard the plane that crashed after hitting high-tension wires near Commerce Drive, about a quarter-mile south of the airport. Foster was taken to Waterbury Hospital after the crash; he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Foster worked as a lobbyist for FuelCell Energy, a Danbury-based renewable energy company. The company was scheduled to host an event in Torrington on Thursday morning with U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, but the event was canceled. It was unclear if Foster was planning to attend.
Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were investigating the crash Thursday.
When firefighters arrived at the scene of the crash Wednesday, Foster was in cardiac arrest inside the plane, according to Fire Chief Scott Pelletier.
Resident Trooper Sgt. Daniel Semosky said an autopsy determined Foster died of multiple blunt trauma. Next of kin were notified with the help of Maryland police, he said.
Semosky said the airplane broke up in three pieces: the wings, fuselage and engine. It glanced off a small gray structure on the site and then landed behind it inside the substation compound, he said.
Pelletier said the majority of the debris from the airplane was located in the substation.
A telephone number listed to an address Foster registered for the plane was disconnected.
Before working at FuelCell, Foster worked for both Boeing and NASA, where he was the lead engineer responsible for the Space Shuttle Main Engine Test Program.
He is survived by his wife, Rainey Foster, and two college-aged children, John and Katy.
A statement from Foster's family said that Foster had more than 20 years of flight experience and built the GlassAir III plane from a kit, investing more than 2,000 hours in its construction. The family said the plane "had been a dream of his to own."
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USMCFLYR
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