William Anders, an Apollo astronaut who took the iconic “Earthrise” photograph of Earth during his 1968 orbit around the moon, died Friday at the age of 90 in a plane crash near the San Juan Islands.

Greg Anders, the astronaut’s son, confirmed to the Associated Press that his father died in the crash.

“The family is devastated,” he said in a statement. “He was a great pilot. He will be missed.”

William Anders, who rose to the rank of major in the Air Force before the Apollo flight, was the pilot of the plane that crashed Friday, Fox 13 Seattle reported, citing social media posts from the former astronaut’s friends and family.

The aircraft was an older Air Force T-34 Mentor owned by Anders, who lived in San Juan County, according to flight data and FAA records obtained by the outlet.

Police and sailors are on their way to the crash site.

According to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, the number of passengers on board the plane is unclear.

Video of the crash shows a small plane heading straight for the water’s surface near Orcas and Jones Islands, then skidding across the surface and exploding in a fireball. Witnesses told KING News that the plane appeared to be performing a looping maneuver just before it crashed, about 80 feet from Jones Island.

“But it was too low and … it didn’t come out of the water,” Philip Person, who watched the crash from a cabin on land, told the outlet.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Person said. “It looked like something out of a movie or special effects. With the big explosion and the flames and everything.”

According to county authorities, personnel from the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Washington Fish and Wildlife Service responded to the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating the crash.

Anders was part of the Apollo 8 mission, which orbited the Moon before returning to Earth.

The mission orbited the moon for 20 hours. It was the first time humans reached lunar orbit.

“Earthrise” is one of the most famous photographs in history and is considered an inspiration for the growing environmental movement of the late 1960s.

In an interview in 2015, Anders said about the picture: Forbes, “The view shows the beauty of the earth and its fragility. It helped launch the environmental movement.”

U.S. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former NASA astronaut, paid tribute to Anders in a post on X.

“Bill Anders forever changed our view of our planet and ourselves with his famous Apollo 8 Earthrise photograph,” he wrote. “He inspired me and generations of astronauts and explorers. My thoughts are with his family and friends.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.