Three Tesla employees killed in twin-engine plane crash
By Thomas Ricker 
posted February 18th 2010 3:38AM
posted February 18th 2010 3:38AM
Although not technically rock stars, the engineers that produced the Tesla Roadster, the first production electric vehicle manufactured around lithium-Ion batteries, certainly rocked the automotive world. Tragic, indeed."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."
Our thoughts are with them. May they rest in peace.
my thoughts are with you, Tesla.
well, excuse me in advance for what i'll say...but this doesn't fit nice & easy in my mind.
It seems to me that someone (insert "oil-company/person" here) is trying to stop a cheaper-cleaner-environmental-friendly technology development (insert "hybrid-electrical-tesla-company/person" here).
I'm sorry...but i see conspiracies everywhere...my condolences to their families (sorry for my english, mistakes are not intended).
@tomasse Your English is fine, your conspiracy is unlikely.
@tomasse "I'm sorry...but i see conspiracies everywhere"
You're a prime candidate for a tin-foil hat and living off-grid. Do the rest of us a favor and get to it!
@tomasse To be fair, it was very foggy (see comments by those living in the area) and the aircraft hit an electricity pylon ripping it's wing off and taking out the power to wide areas of Palo Alto in the process. You can see photos of the damaged pylon and more at http://www.sfgate.com.
Even intentional acts won't stop the move towards the end of big oil. The plans for the Tesla and other such vehicles will be stored safely and the hard work of these great engineers will be rewarded in due course. (Note that despite the human loss on 9/11, the financial data 'held' on the twin towers was safely 'backed up'.) Companies always allow for contingencies. What can bring down a company or industry is law suits. And right now, the oil industry deserves thousands of them for the pollution, wars and more it has wrought across the globe.
This is terrible news. My thoughts are with the families.
What a terrible tragedy. My thoughts are with the families, friends and colleagues. A great loss.
Don't let their legacy die out with them. An electric car in every driveway by 2013. True visionaries and Get-r-doner's unlike the countless other startups that never put an alternative fuel car into production.
Couldn't agree more Tomasse!
Sorry about the loses :(
This is very sad, may god bless their life.
i attend high school in palo alto, and we all knew something was serious when the power suddenly went off.
only later we found out that the outage was due to this.
rest in peace
I read this yesterday... such a shame... very sad indeed.
Rest in peace.
RIP
Don't compare these guys to rock stars.......they are much better than Rock Stars
Anyway, have fun driving your Teslas in heaven.....RIP
@Dead Man Inc
You maen we shouldn't compare them to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper?
@Dead Man Inc
You mean we shouldn't compare them to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper?
Damn you karma!
No deity references here... only, the world is a poorer place after this loss.
It's coincidental that I was just listening to a podcast over at twit where they were discussing a recent light-aircraft accident. The commentator (a pilot as well) said that when he was in training his instructor told him that flying skills are only 10% of being a pilot - 90% is learning good judgement, a skill that cannot necessarily be taught. So true! Let's hope this accident was not a simple case of bad judgement...
Either way, sorry Tesla and extended family -- my thoughts are with you all.
@retread I live in the area, and the reason for the crash was a loss of power of sorts. They took off under heavy fog. Instead of turning east, they turned west, supposedly because they lost power in one or both engines. They smashed through a power tower, taking out power throughout the town where I live. Neighbors say they didn't hear anything until the explosion occurred (supporting that the engines died). A day care was struck by a wing and a fuselage.
@Facescar
From my experience in boating and flying, I've found that mishaps seem to almost always be the result of a string of mistakes - I wonder what the series was here... power loss in both engines seems very odd.
With the cost of technology today, you'd think all aircraft, no matter the size, could be equipped with even a simple "black box" type of recorder. It would make the task of finding out exactly what went wrong that much faster (and more accurate).
Also - I've often wondered why airports do not install HD auto-tracking cameras to monitor all traffic, even during fog. It just seems so cheap compared to the vital data it would provide.
Certainly a terrible tragedy.
I hate to say it, but this is why all the big executives tend to fly separate private planes, to prevent a single terrible accident from killing several people from upper management. No doubt, had they flown separate planes, some critic would quickly point to that as a criticism of their environmental concerns and discredit their motives for an all electric vehicle and energy independence.
It really is a sad state of affairs.
This is certainly tragic. What must not be overlooked are deaths on the road. Statistically speaking air travel is very safe. However, in the United States the most likely cause of death for Americans 30 years and younger is a car crash.
May those lost in this tragedy rest in peace.
Not sure why this is on Engadget, but ok.
RIP, I guess.
@(Unverified)
Not sure why you're on Engadget, but ok.
@(Unverified)
Not cool. At all. If you dont care, then DONT comment...
RIP tesla engineers.
My life was complete when I described this car to a 5th grader and he said "Thats really cool. I want one!".
May they rest in peace, but may we not rest until we've done them proud.
Engadget is about news in the tech industry and gadgets. Tesla is a part of this industry in that it's a leader in a growing new field and it's "gadget" may look more like a motor vehicle but it shares more in common with a mobile phone or notebook. This news definitely belongs here - if not technically then on an emotional and spiritual level. This was the ONLY news headline I clicked on when scrolling down the various articles today, so anyone who thinks this doesn't belong doesn't have their head screwed on straight.
My pary are with the father who lost his chrilden ; i am truley sorry for your lots
Two employees die and its on engadget but when Michael died they didnt mention a thing.
I saw this on the news but seriously, this is some crazy karma stuff. Out of no where, these 3 are killed and then the daycare the plane crashed into, no one was hurt....man...
R.I.P
Sad that the people died. But this has to be pilot error. I have friends certified for small planes (single and multiple engine) and it just seems like he did pre-flight properly or pay attention to his instruments well enough since it was so foggy.
Another employee was quoted as saying he never makes mistakes. Surrree. That's why he was divorced twice. Sorry, everyone makes mistakes and it's always the little ones which hit the hardest.
Why was he so low at that distance? He should have been much higher especially since it seems like he was familiar with this airport. I can't find any evidence that he lost an engine or that he changed his course and that would have already hit the new, especially if he lost an engine and tried to make it back to the airport (which he should have been able to do with one engine).
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/17/BA391C32O5.DTL
Anyways, we'll see what the FAA/NTSB finds out.
something smells fishy here
The plane crash also cut off power to 28,000 in Palo Alto for 10 hours because it took out an electrical tower.
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_14422231
I am really sorry to hear this. My condolences to family, friends and company.
Will this have any major impact on Tesla's work?
May they rest in peace. At least they died knowing that they were part of an effort to make the world a better place.
Sad to hear; I had the pleasure of working with the Tesla engineers for a cpl of years & they were all nothing less than a class act. Here's to hoping their legacies are EV's everywhere in a few more years!
This is why I will never fly in a small single/twin engine aircraft. They don't handle incliment weather or rough landings like the larger commercial craft. Its sad how many promising individuals have been lost in small aircraft crashes. RIP.