Wal-Mart founder's son killed in plane crash

[enewbold]

Wal-Mart founder's son killed in plane crash

NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , the world's largest retailer, said John Walton, the billionaire second son of its founder, Sam Walton, was killed in a airplane crash on Monday.

Wal-Mart said John Walton, one of the richest men in the world, was killed when an ultra-light aircraft he was piloting crashed shortly after take-off from the Jackson Hole Airport in Grand Teton National Park, in Wyoming.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined, Wal-Mart said in a statement.

Walton, 58, was a member of the Wal-Mart board of directors, is ranked 11th on Forbes magazine's most recent list of the world's richest people, with a net worth estimated at $18.2 billion.

The retailer said Walton is survived by his wife and their son; his mother; two brother, a sister and their families.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N27325008.htm

[enewbold]

This is a very sad story, because he was a good pilot, flew his own Falcon. He was also a Green Beret medic with a Silver Star for saving a couple fellow soliders under heavy fire.

[Timchick]

Tragedy and death have no boundries. They strike rich and poor alike. Sorry to hear of his tragic death.

[Chad]

News Link (http://www.casperstartribune.net/news/wire/ap/?wire_num=221413)

In May, after Walton took off from West Virginia to fly to Jackson Hole, he called Slusarczyk to report the fun he was having but ran into trouble in Burwell, Neb.

Misty DeLashmutt, editor of the Burwell Tribune, reported that Walton landed after noticing a vibration in the plane.

Kevin and Paul Plock saw Walton land and helped him at the airfield, then watched him take off - only to see him lose a door and his duffel bag from the craft. After landing again, Walton collected the pieces, attached the door with duct tape, then took off again, DeLashmutt reported.

But Walton returned a third time, damaging the plane's landing gear. He eventually took the plane apart, rented a U-Haul trailer and towed the plane the remainder of the way to Jackson Hole.

Slusarczyk said Walton told him that before the hard landing, he had failed to put the handle controlling the flaps into the proper position, losing the extra lift created by the flaps.

[KenSandyEggo]

From a local news station. Is this called "washing your hands" and "distancing yourself" with a pre-emptive strike?

JACKSON, Wyo. - A man who owns an Ohio aviation company says Wal-Mart heir John Walton may have been flying without the proper fuselage cover when his experimental plane crashed last month. Chuck Slusarczyk is the owner of CGS Aviation in Newbury in northeast Ohio. His company makes the kit that Walton used to build the plane.

Walton died June 27 when his unregistered CGS Hawk Arrow crashed just north of the Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming.

Walton and his wife owned a home in National City and several other properties in San Diego County.

Slusarczyk said photographs of the plane and an eyewitness account of the crash raise questions whether Walton had the proper parts in place.

He says he hopes to visit Wyoming to see the wreckage and confer with the National Transportation Safety Board to help determine the cause of the crash.

He says a West Virginia company helped Walton build the plane.