NTSB Says Rockefeller Plane Crash Due to Poor Visibility

Investigators say bad weather and poor visibility may have been factors in a New York plane crash that killed a great grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s says Saturday that Richard Rockefeller was flying in dark, rainy and foggy conditions June 13 when his Piper Meridian crashed just after takeoff from Westchester County Airport. It narrowly missed a house in Purchase, New York.

The NTSB says clouds were about 200 feet above the ground and visibility was limited to a quarter-mile.

The report says the 65-year-old doctor had more than 5,000 hours of flight experience and that he was required to wear corrective lenses.

Rockefeller was the only person aboard. He was returning home to Maine after celebrating father David Rockefeller’s 99th birthday.