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Thomas Phillips of Kirkland died in a Michigan airplane crash on Dec. 4, 2011. - Contributed
Contributed
Thomas Phillips of Kirkland died in a Michigan airplane crash on Dec. 4, 2011.

NTSB reports flying conditions poor in airplane crash that killed Kirkland man


March 11, 2013 · 2:26 PM

The National Transportation Safety Board reported Thursday the death of a Kirkland resident and Amazon.com executive in December 2011 may have been due to poor flying conditions and low visibility, according to the Associated Press.

Thomas Phillips, 52, of Kirkland and Joseph Pann Jr., 29, of St. Ignace, Mich. were flying a single-engine charter plane to a resort island when it crashed 1.6 miles from the St. Ignace airport near Lake Huron.

When the plane failed to reach its destination, a search involving federal, state and local officials began on Lake Huron.

Searchers found the plane 110 yards off the shore and both men were dead, according to the U.S. Coast Guard in a previous Reporter story.

Phillips, who has his pilot’s license, was manager of Amazon Web Services and also a former Microsoft employee.

 

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