3 Tesla Engineers Die When Small Plane They Were In Hits Tower in Heavy Fog
By Scott Doggett February 17, 2010
1ST UPDATE: Adds statement from Tesla Motors.
By John O'Dell and Scott Doggett
Three mid-level engineers for Tesla Motors died today when the small plane they were in struck an electrical tower in heavy fog shortly after takeoff from Palo Alto Airport, sources said.
The identities of the three, who were the sole occupants of the plane, were being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Reports that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had been aboard the aircraft were unfounded.
The plane, a twin-engine Cessna 310 bound for Hawthorne Municipal Airport in Los Angeles County, slammed into a 100-foot-tall electrical tower at 7:55 a.m. and plummeted in pieces onto a residential neighborhood, destroying four homes. No one on the ground was hurt.
The crash severed three transmission lines that supply power to Palo Alto, knocking out electricity to most of that city, located an hour's drive south of San Francisco.
The plane is owned by Doug Bourn, a senior electrical engineer for Tesla Motors, maker of plug-in electric cars. It was not known whether Bourn was on board.
The cause of the crash was unknown, but thick fog blanketed much of Palo Alto at the time of the tragedy.
Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the airport was shrouded in fog when the plane took off.
"Pilots make the decision on whether it's safe to take off or not," Gregor said. "We provide them with weather information, but we do not tell them whether they can take off."
Gregor's agency and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the cause of the crash.
Calls to Tesla were not answered all morning. At 12:30 p.m., Tesla issued the following statement:
"Three Tesla employees were on board a plane that crashed in East Palo Alto early this morning. We are withholding their identities as we work with the relevant authorities to notify the families. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. Tesla is a small, tightly-knit company, and this is a tragic day for us."
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