Bill Henningsgaard, a former director at Microsoft, has died in a plane crash in the US, his family has confirmed. The 54-year-old was aboard his own aircraft with his 17-year-old son Maxwell when it crashed near Tweed New Haven Airport in Connecticut.
Mr Henningsgaard, who worked at Microsoft from 1988 to 2002 as a marketing executive, was travelling to the East Coast to help his son choose a college. The plane, a Rockwell International Turbo Commander 690B, crashed into two homes in East Haven at about 11:25 local time (15:25 GMT) on Friday, amid rainy weather.
Two children are also feared dead after the homes caught fire. A witness reported a woman screaming that her children were trapped inside one of the houses. A fire official confirmed that four bodies were recovered from the site overnight.
After leaving Microsoft, Mr Henningsgaard focused on philanthropy. Social Venture Partners, a charitable foundation he helped establish, paid tribute to him as someone who was 'truly all-in for this community, heart, mind and soul'.
Tweed's airport manager, Lori Hoffman-Soares, said the pilot had been speaking to air traffic control but did not issue any distress calls. 'All we know is that it missed the approach and continued on,' she said. 'There were no distress calls as far as we know.'
