亿万富翁洛克菲勒之子驾机坠亡

　　The Rockefeller family, after celebrating the 99th birthday of its billionaire patriarch David, is now planning a funeral for his doctor son after a morning plane wreck¹.

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Richard Rockefeller died at the controls of his private Piper Meridian² PA-46 when the single-engine craft crashed Friday in miserable³ weather conditions minutes after takeoff at Westchester County Airport.
Though several other flights were canceled due to the rain, fog and poor visibility, veteran pilot Rockefeller opted⁴ to take off at 8:08 a.m. from Runway 16 — and quickly dropped off the radar⁵, authorities said.
Rockefeller, 65, was found dead amid wreckage⁶ of his plane, which barely missed hitting a house and building at Stratford Stables, just a half-mile from the White Plains airport.
The crash happened so quickly that Rockefeller never had time for a mayday call, officials said. A piece of the doomed⁷ plane’s wing dangled⁸ from a sheared⁹ pine tree as police in Purchase, N.Y., awaited the arrival of National Transportation Safety Board investigators¹⁰.
Other large trees in the plane’s path were knocked askew¹¹, with one aircraft wheel thrown about 50 feet away from the main wreckage. No one on the ground was injured.
Rockefeller, the well-respected great-grandson of Standard Oil founder¹² John D. Rockefeller Sr., was a regular flier and had decades of flight experience, according to a family spokesman.
新闻快讯】
据美国媒体报道，美国时间的6月13日早上，美国著名亿万富翁大卫·洛克菲勒的儿子，65岁的理查德·洛克菲勒驾驶飞机时不幸坠机遇难。在这父亲节前夕，白发人送黑发人，对于99岁大卫·洛克菲勒来说是一个不小的打击。
报道称，理查德·洛克菲勒驾驶的单引擎飞机在早上8点08分在纽约州维斯切斯特郡的白原机场起飞。起飞后，飞机撞上机场西南部的树，10分钟后坠毁于纽约州立大学帕彻斯校园外的卡塔哥道上。65岁的理查德·洛克菲勒当场不治身亡。
据了解，65岁的理查德·洛克菲勒是亿万富翁大卫·洛克菲勒的儿子，他也是洛克菲勒家族最著名的富豪约翰·洛克菲勒(1839-1937)的重孙。而就在事发前一天（12日），理查德驾驶私人飞机回到缅因州的家中为父亲庆祝99岁大寿，并与父亲共进晚餐。
洛克菲勒家族发言人弗雷泽·希特称：“这是一起可怕的悲剧，整个家族都震惊了。理查德是一名经验丰富的飞行员，他已有好几年驾驶飞机的经验。”

1 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

2 meridian   

adj.子午线的；全盛期的

参考例句：

• All places on the same meridian have the same longitude.在同一子午线上的地方都有相同的经度。
• He is now at the meridian of his intellectual power.他现在正值智力全盛期。

3 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

4 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

5 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

6 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

7 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

8 dangled   

悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• Gold charms dangled from her bracelet. 她的手镯上挂着许多金饰物。
• It's the biggest financial incentive ever dangled before British footballers. 这是历来对英国足球运动员的最大经济诱惑。

9 sheared   

v.剪羊毛( shear的过去式和过去分词 )；切断；剪切

参考例句：

• A jet plane sheared the blue sky. 一架喷气式飞机划破蓝空。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The pedal had sheared off at the pivot. 踏板在枢轴处断裂了。 来自辞典例句

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 askew   

adv.斜地；adj.歪斜的

参考例句：

• His glasses had been knocked askew by the blow.他的眼镜一下子被打歪了。
• Her hat was slightly askew.她的帽子戴得有点斜。

12 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。