Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Report: Tesla Employees Die In Crash of Plane Headed to LA

Three executives of Tesla Motors, the high profile electric car firm setting up operations in Los Angeles, apparently have died in a plane crash in Palo Alto, as they were heading towards Hawthorne Municipal Airport in Los Angeles. Names and identities of the deceased have not yet been released by the FAA. According to Bay Area TV station KTVU, the plane was piloted by a "high ranking" official at Tesla motors. The crash occurred around 7:50am, and resulted in a number of fires, power issues, and cut telephone service in the heart of Palo Alto. Tesla Motors has been scouting Southern California for a facility to build an assembly plant for its Model-S vehicles; Tesla's Elon Musk also runs space rocket firm SpaceX, which is headquartered in Hawthorne.