PURCHASE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Dr. Richard Rockefeller, the great-grandson of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller, died Friday morning in a plane crash near Westchester County Airport.

As CBS 2’s John Slattery reported Friday, Rockefeller, 65, was the only one onboard when the plane he was piloting went down just after 8 a.m. The crash happened about a mile southwest of the airport on Cottage Avenue, which is also near the State University of New York campus in Purchase.

Listen: Rockefeller Great-Grandson Dies In Plane Crash

“Shortly after takeoff, the (Federal Aviation Administration) control tower notified airport operations that the aircraft was missing,” said Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino.

The plane, a single engine, turbo-prop Piper Meridian, is equipped to carry a pilot and five passengers.

“The sole occupant and pilot is Dr. Richard Rockefeller. He flew in yesterday for the birthday of his father, David Rockefeller, who turned 99 yesterday,” Astorino said.

The plane, en route to Portland, Maine, was in heavy fog when it apparently clipped trees just after take-off and crashed at a stable about a half-mile away – narrowly missing a home.

“The weather at the time was a quarter-mile visibility, and an indefinite 200-foot ceiling,” said Westchester County Airport manager Peter Sherrer.