An experimental plane pilot, his fiancee and an MIT graduate friend were among four people killed when a homemade plane crashed in California.
Lochie Ferrier, Cassidy Petit and Emma Willmer-Shiles, 27, were on Tuesday named as the victims of the smash in Half Moon Bay, near San Francisco, on Sunday.
Willmer-Shiles’ body was recovered while rescuers continued to search for the other three, with a fourth person on the flight still yet to be named by cops.
Horrifying footage showed the parts of the wreckage of the Cozy Mark IV – a four-seat light aircraft that can be built from a kit – washed up on the rocks this week.
Lochie Ferrier, Cassidy Petit (pictured, together) and Emma Willmer-Shiles were on Tuesday named as the victims of the smash in Half Moon Bay, near San Francisco, on Sunday
Emma Willmer-Shiles, pictured. Her body was recovered while rescuers continued to search for the other three, with a fourth person on the flight still yet to be named by cops
Horrifying footage showed the parts of the wreckage of the Cozy Mark IV – a four-seat light aircraft that can be built from a kit – washed up on the rocks this week
Ferrier, known in the ‘experimental aircraft’ community, graduated from MIT in 2019 with aeronautical engineering degree and worked at Beta Technologies – an electric plane company.
He moved to California to work at Magpie Aviation in Hayward, which specializes in electric aircraft.
On October 1, he announced his engagement to Cassidy Petit, a venture capitalist at RH Capital, specializing in reproductive and maternal health – with Ferrier proposing while on vacation in Baja California.
The pair shared a love of the great outdoors, with their social media full of scenes of climbing, surfing, snorkeling, hiking and skiing.
Her final post to Instagram, on January 1, was an engagement photo taken in front of the snow-capped mountains of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Ferrier, known in the ‘experimental aircraft’ community, graduated from MIT in 2019 with aeronautical engineering degree and worked at Beta Technologies – an electric plane company
He moved to California to work at Magpie Aviation in Hayward, which specializes in electric aircraft
The third passenger was 27-year-old Willmer-Shiles, known as Pearl, who graduated from MIT the year before Ferrier.
The fourth person on board has not been named. The plane took off from Hayward and toured the bay on Sunday before landing at Half Moon Bay at 5:04pm.
It was on the ground for two hours, and then took off again from Half Moon Bay, crashing shortly after.
Witnesses at the Moss Beach Distillery told NBC Bay Area they saw the plane flying ‘erratically’ before they lost sight of it.
They also said they heard what sounded like an engine sputter out.
‘They heard the engine sputter, and they kept eyes on the plane until they lost sight of it, just over the horizon,’ said Sgt. Philip Hallworth of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.
‘That prompted a search and rescue by the sheriff’s office and coast guard.’ Crews are still searching for some of the bodies and the remnants of the plane.
The fourth person on board has not been named. The plane took off from Hayward and toured the bay on Sunday before landing at Half Moon Bay at 5:04pm. It was on the ground for two hours, and then took off again from Half Moon Bay, crashing shortly after
The Coast Guard said a helicopter and boat crew looked in a 28-square mile area for nearly six hours on Monday, searching for victims before calling off the search around mid-morning.
Hours later, a woman’s body was spotted floating in the water by the crew of a commercial fishing boat, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The unorthodox nature of the plane means that an investigation is more complicated.
‘The aircraft itself doesn’t have any flight data or cockpit voice recorders, because it’s such a small, light aircraft,’ said Scott Miller, a pilot and San Jose State University lecturer.
He told KTVU: ‘If there was a mechanical failure of some type, the wreckage would certainly indicate that.
‘Kit planes are flown every day of the week. Sometimes tracking the history of these types of airplanes are a little more difficult.’
The NTSB said a preliminary report into the crash will be completed in two to three weeks.
A probable cause report will take between one and two years. The Federal Aviation Administration is also involved in the investigation.