A football player at Stanford is among those mourning the lives lost in an Alaska plane crash.
Bill Phillips died in the crash that also claimed the life of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and three others. Phillips son Andrew is a senior at Stanford and the starting guard on the football team. His 13-year-old brother, Willy survived the crash.
Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh released a statement:
We are struck with deep sadness by the tragic and sudden loss of Bill Phillips. A man could hardly live a more full life than Bill, whose kindness and friendship touched us all deeply. His legacy lives on through his four sons, four incredible young men he raised.
The team started practice this week down on the farm, but they are doing it with Andrew who headed home to Maryland to be with his family.
Andrew's father worked with Sen. Stevens in Washington. Three teenagers and their parents were on the plane, including the former head of NASA. The group was headed to a fishing trip.
The Phillips family has three sons who play college football. Andrew plays for Stanford. His brother Colter plays at Virginia and his other brother Paul is a starting freshman at Indiana.
Gruesome details of the crash are emerging Wednesday. Rescuers spend a miserable night at the crash scene tending to frightened survivors, which included Phillips' youngest brother. The plane was found in the middle of a huge oil slick which coated an already muddy mountainside.
Authorities are looking at weather patterns as part of the probe into Monday's crash. They're trying to find out if overcast skies, rain and gusty winds played a role.
The victims were identified as Stevens; pilot Theron "Terry" Smith, 62, of Eagle River; William "Bill" Phillips Sr.; Dana Tindall, 48, an executive with GCI; and her 16-year-old daughter Corey Tindall.
The four survivors were former NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe and his teenage son; William "Willy" Phillips Jr., 13; and Jim Morhard, of Alexandria, Va. They were taken to Providence Hospital in Anchorage with "varying degrees of injuries," Alaska State Troopers said.
