A pair of Israeli tech professionals tragically die in a plane crash in California

An Israeli tech couple were reportedly killed in a plane crash near the California-Nevada border Saturday evening. 

Israeli media identified the couple as Liron and Naomi Petrushka. Liron Petrushka was a former soccer player for the Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim. 

In the late 1990s, Liron 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. 

The Truckee Tahoe Airport says a single engine TBM aircraft N960LP crashed in Truckee, California while attempting to land at the airport. Per FlightAware, the plane had departed from Centennial airport in Denver, Colorado earlier in the afternoon. 

Local outlet KCRA-TV reports there was moderate snow with visibility of a half-mile. 

Multiple law enforcement agencies were on the scene. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating. 

“We are devastated by the news of Liron and Naomi Petrushka’s tragic death,” wrote UpWest, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm which Liron Petrushka joined in 2017, on social media. “Our hearts are with the Petrushka family and their sons David, Scott, and Jordan.” 

Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim told the Times of Israel 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 in the club, including the adults’ team,” team said. “He played with me in the youth team, where we won the national championship, as well as in the adult team.”

Truckee is about 30 miles southwest of Reno, Nevada.