Dr. Richard Rockefeller, great-grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller, died Friday when the small plane he was piloting crashed outside New York City, a spokesman said. He was 64.
The crash happened a day after he celebrated the 99th birthday of his father, former Chase Manhattan chairman and CEO David Rockefeller, family spokesman Fraser Seitel told The Wall Street Journal.
The Piper Meridian took off from Westchester County Airport just after 8 a.m. and went down on a road in the hamlet of Purchase after hitting some trees west of the airfield, operations manager John Starace said. Rockefeller, a doctor and father of two, was flying solo.
It wasn't immediately known whether Rockefeller reported any problems before going down.
A family spokesman said Rockefeller was flying back to Falmouth, Maine, when the crash occurred.
—By CNBC.com and The Associated Press.