4 dead as kit-built plane crashes, including pilot, fiancee

Four people were killed when an electric plane built from a kit crashed in California — including the experimental pilot and his new fiancée, according to reports.

Pilot Lochie Ferrier was flying a Cozy Mark IV, a single-engine, four-seater plane, when it crashed around 7 p.m. Sunday near Moss Beach off the coast of Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, KTVU reported.

A 911 caller reported seeing it crashing toward the water after first hearing “the engine sputter,” said Sgt. Philip Hallworth of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

The Australian-born pilot died with his fiancée, venture capitalist Cassidy Petit, their friend Emma Willmer-Shiles and a fourth person who has yet to be identified.

Ferrier, who graduated from MIT in 2019 with a degree in aerospace engineering, worked at Magpie Aviation, which specializes in electric aircraft, and was the owner of the doomed plane, according to the outlet.

His LinkedIn also listed him as working for Beta Technologies, a Vermont-based electronic aerospace company.

“Interested in electric airplanes. Design, build, fly!” his one-line profile read.

Ferrier was well known in the so-called “experimental aircraft” community, and was described as a “smart, capable pilot,” CBS News Bay Area reported.

Experts insisted that such aircraft should not be dismissed as unsafe just because they’re built from kits.

“It’s a proven design,” retired airline captain Ross Sagun told CBS News Bay Area, saying it is also “well tested.”

“Having said that, it’s up to the person building the airplane to properly construct it and maintain good engineering and building practices,” he told the outlet. “That’s hard to guarantee.”

Scott Miller, a pilot and San Jose State University lecturer, told KTVU that “kit planes are flown every day of the week.”

“Sometimes tracking the history of these types of airplanes [is] a little more difficult,” he said, because most do not “have any flight data or cockpit voice recorders.”

Ferirer was recently engaged to Petit, of Hayward, who worked for San Francisco venture capital firm RH Capital. They and the unidentified fourth person are presumed dead even though their bodies have yet to be found, the reports said.

The body of Willmer-Shiles, 27, of San Francisco, was recovered Monday morning near the crash site, NBC Bay Area reported. The MIT grad was identified by the San Mateo County Coroner’s Office.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

NTSB said a preliminary report into this crash will be completed in two to three weeks. However, a probable cause report will take between one and two years. 

The Federal Aviation Administration is also involved in the investigation.