Former astronaut William ’Bill’ Anders killed in San Juan Islands plane crash

Retired Maj. Gen. William “Bill” Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the famous “Earthrise” photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed in a plane crash in the San Juan Islands Friday morning. He was 90 years old. Anders’ son, Lt. Col. Greg Anders, confirmed to KOMO News his father was killed when the vintage Beechcraft T-34 Mentor he was flying alone crashed. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office said the crash was first reported to the dispatch center around 11:40 a.m. Friday. The sheriff’s office said an “older model plane” was reportedly flying from north to south before crashing near the north end of Jones Island and sunk. -------------------------------------------------- For more on the lead story: Anders was featured in an Eric’s Heroes segment on KOMO News in 2017: