Former Apollo 8 astronaut William "Bill" Anders has died after the plane he was flying crashed in the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state Friday. He was 90.

In a statement to CNN, Anders' son, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Greg Anders, confirmed that his father died "in an aircraft incident in the San Juan Islands" Friday.

"The family is devastated and grieving the loss of a great pilot," Greg said of the retired NASA astronaut, who was known for taking the iconic "Earthrise" photo.

Fox 13 Seattle obtained a video showing the moment the small plane plunged into the water from a witness named Philip Person.

In the jarring video, the plane could be seen plummeting at rapid speeds and skidding across the water before appearing to catch on fire.

Surrounded by a cloud of smoke, the plane then sank into the water.

The U.S. Coast Guard launched a search for the plane and Anders after receiving notice of the crash at around 11:40 a.m. Friday.

Anders' body was recovered by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife dive team after a four-and-a-half-hour search by multiple agencies, according to the Coast Guard.

Greg also confirmed to NBC affiliate KING 5 that his father's body was found Friday afternoon.

Astronaut Maj. Gen. William Anders
Astronaut Maj. Gen. William Anders arrives at the 6th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 22, 2009 in Beverly Hills, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Anders was part of the 1968 Apollo 8 crew who became the first three people to circle the moon along with fellow astronauts Jim Lovell and mission commander Frank Borman.

Anders, who served as the lunar module pilot for the historic flight, captured the first color image of Earth from space on Dec. 24, 1968, during the mission.

Titled "Earthrise," the iconic photo showed Earth as a shadowed blue marble peeking out from beyond the moon's surface.

"We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth," Anders said of the photo.

Nature photographer Galen Rowell dubbed the image "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken."

Apollo 8 astronauts spacecraft Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders
From L to R, Apollo 8 astronauts spacecraft Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders, who became the first humans to escape Earth's gravity and the first humans to see the far side of the Moon, pose at Kennedy Space Center, in December 1968. NASA/AFP via Getty Images

Tributes poured in for Anders after news of his death made headlines.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, NASA administrator and former Sen. Bill Nelson said Anders "embodied the lessons and the purpose of exploration."

"He traveled to the threshold of the Moon and helped all of us see something else: ourselves," Nelson wrote.

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who is also a retired NASA astronaut, credited Anders for inspiring him and "generations of astronauts and explorers."

"Bill Anders forever changed our perspective of our planet and ourselves with his famous Earthrise photo on Apollo 8," Kelly wrote on X. "My thoughts are with his family and friends."

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