Israeli Tech Entrepreneur Couple Killed In California Plane Crash

Israeli high-tech entrepreneur Liron Petrushka and his wife Naomi were killed in a plane crash in California, the Guardian reported. The incident happened on Saturday night when the couple's plane crashed as they were attempting to land at Truckee Tahoe airport in Northern California near the Nevada border.

The plane departed from Centennial Airport in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday at about 4.20 pm, according to FlightAware.

In a Facebook post, Truckee Tahoe airport officials wrote, ''The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are onsite investigating yesterday's 6:38pm crash of a single-engine TBM N960LP that resulted in 2 fatalities on Union Pacific rail property south of Glenshire Drive, between the rail line and Truckee River.''

See the post here:

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the cause of the crash.

Notably, the couple were well-known Israeli tech investors and entrepreneurs living in California for the last few years. According to Fox News, Mr Petrushka started a successful tech company with his wife which later sold for $242 million. In recent years the couple had been involved in various tech initiatives and living in California. Their investments included Check, which was sold to American financial giant Intuit in 2014 for about $360 million and fintech unicorn Next Insurance. 

"We are devastated by the news of Liron and Naomi Petrushka's tragic death. Our hearts are with the Petrushka family and their sons David, Scott, and Jordan," wrote UpWest, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that Liron Petrushka joined in 2017. 

As per the Times of Israel, Liron Petrushka was also a former professional soccer player in Israel. 

The chairman of Petrushka's former soccer team, Einav Hazenvald, said: "The club bows its head for the death of Liron Petrushka and his wife. Liron grew up in the club from the age of 10 and passed through all the teams, including the adults' team. He played with me in the youth team, where we won the national championship, as well as in the adult team."

They were survived by four children.