Ex-Rockwell Executive, Friend Die as Plane Crashes in Mexico
The crash of a private aircraft in Baja California over the weekend claimed the life of a former aerospace executive who once headed space shuttle operations for Rockwell International Corp.
La Palma resident Richard E. Thomas, 69, and his flying partner, Andir Rizk Maroun, 55, were killed Friday when their aircraft crashed while trying to land in Punta Pescadero, a fishing village near La Paz, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Mexican news agency Notimex and friends.
The men, flying in Maroun’s home-built Cozy airplane, took off from Chino on Friday morning and stopped in Loreto, Mexico, before departing for Punta Pescadero. Friends said the plane, piloted by Maroun, encountered wind gusts on approach and then slammed into a wall at the landing strip.
Thomas, who retired in 1996, spent five decades working on the country’s space program, first as an engineer on the Apollo missions and then as point man for the space shuttle program.
During countdowns at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, it was Thomas, standing amid staff members in the control room, who gave the launch go-ahead.
Thomas was known as a detail-oriented engineer with exceptional people skills. Colleagues said he was the ideal man to head the shuttle program.
“To be a chief engineer in building something as complex as an Apollo vehicle or shuttle you must be able to talk with people in different technical fields,” said colleague and friend Ben Boykin. “You don’t have to be an expert in all the fields, but smart enough so that they can’t snow you.”
Thomas is survived by his wife, Eva Beth.
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