Who were Liron and Naomi Petrushka, Truckee Plane Crash Victims?

Liron and Naomi Petrushka were an Israeli couple who perished in a plane crash in Truckee, California on Saturday.

A plane crashed in a California town near the Nevada border on Saturday night.

The aircraft was attempting to land at Truckee Tahoe airport shortly after 6.30pm on Saturday having departed from Centennial airport in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday at about 4.20pm, according to FlightAware.

Unfortunately, the plane failed to land, crashing instead.

Moderate snow was falling at the time of the crash with visibility of a half-mile (0.8 kilometers), though winds were light.

An Israeli couple on board who died were identified as a couple of wealthy investors residing in California.

Who were Liron and Naomi Petrushka?

Liron Petrushka is a three-time serial entrepreneur, and angel investor in companies such as Check and LendingClub and a partner at Silicon Valley-based UpWest Labs.

His LinkedIn profile identified him being a high-tech entrepreneur and angel investor with over 25 years of experience at early-stage technology companies.

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He purports to possess vast experience in mergers, acquisitions, fund raising, corporate control, and strategic partnerships with a focus currently on investment in Consumer Internet, Mobile application and Enterprise Software companies, as an angel and venture capital investor as well as an advisor to certain companies.

Liron Petrushka founded Petrushka investments in 2001.

The company, over its 23-year span has been widely successful and invested in companies such as Next Insurance betterfin ( acquired by Cross River Bank-2021), Check (acquired by Intuit – 2014), LendingClub (IPO- 2015, Cronologics (Acquired by Google 2016) and Pets.com (IPO 2006).

Others include SilverHelm (Acquired by PE -2003), Zillow (IPO 2011), S1 (IPO 2021), Spinach.io, Reeco and Stampli.

He was also a former soccer player who played for the Israeli football team Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim.

His wife, Naomi Petrushka, meanwhile, graduated from the Wharton School in 1987 and Northwestern University – Kellog School of Management (MM, Finance/accounting) in 1993.

Her LinkedIn described her as: “Passionate Entrepreneur, Educator, Investor and Coach. Focused on advancing our youth through entrepreneurship and financial wellness training.

“After being a successful corporate executive and entrepreneur with several high value exits, I left the corporate world to raise three sons. Now focused on giving back! Doing it the way I know how: by teaching, investing-in and promoting financial literacy and entrepreneurship to America’s young adults,”

Aside being General Manager for Petrushka Investments alongside her husband, she also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Tragically, Liron and Naomi lost their lives in a plane crash in the United States on March 30th.

Two people were killed as a single-engine plane crashed while attempting to land in Truckee, California, on Saturday, local airport and law enforcement officials said.

The Daher TBM 900 took off from Denver, Colorado, on Saturday afternoon, according to aircraft tracker FlightAware.

The aircraft crashed at about 6:38 p.m. “near the area of Glenshire Drive and Olympic Blvd.,” a crossroads northwest of the Truckee Tahoe Airport, police said in a statement.

“At this time there is no threat to any structures and no road closures,” police said. “There will be a heavy presence of emergency responders in the area for an extended period of time.”

Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) arrived at the crash site Sunday morning to begin documentation, according to a statement from the NTSB.

“The wreckage will then be recovered to a secure facility for further evaluation,” the NTSB said. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days of the accident, according to the NTSB.

Tributes

Numerous tributes were shared to Liron and Naomi Petrushka following their demise.

UpWest, a Silicon Valley seed fund for Israeli entrepreneurs wrote: “💔 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.

“Liron and Naomi were a significant force in the building and success of UpWest from its inception. They brought their entrepreneurial spirit and generosity to our fund, working with us and our founders on many pivotal milestones. Their home was always open as were their big hearts. We are all heartbroken by this loss.

“Liron Petrushka, a successful repeat entrepreneur and iconic Angel investor, joined UpWest in 2012 as a Partner, becoming an Advisor to the fund in 2017. We were privileged to have his leadership and mentorship throughout the 12 years we have been in operation. Liron was a mentor, friend and pillar of wisdom who loved life, sports, and a good laugh.

“Liron left a huge imprint on the lives of many of our founders and is remembered for his unwavering commitment to their journey. His honest advice, integrity and empathy exemplify the journey we took as founders and investors along the way. We will cherish every moment we had together.

“Israel was a big part of Liron and Naomi’s lives. They initiated and nurtured countless initiatives and generously contributed to social efforts in Israel, touching the lives of everyone they met.

“The UpWest family will forever hold Liron and Naomi in our hearts. RIP

“Gil, Shuly, the UpWest team, and community of founders,”

“RIP Liron Petrushka, entrepreneur (CommerceOne) and investor (UpWest Labs), killed in the U.S in a plane crash with his wife Naomi,” another poster wrote.

Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim, the soccer club Liron played for, left a statement via the team’s chairperson Einav Hazenvald.

“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,” he said.

“He played with me in the youth team, where we won the national championship, as well as in the adult team,”

Related – Pilot and family killed in crash

The deaths of Liron and Naomi Petrushka comes following a recent similar crash.

Alfredo Diez was an American pilot and flight instructor who died, alongside his wife, 3-year-old son and two others, in a plane crash in Bath County, Virginia.

A small private jet, an IAI Astra 1125, that departed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, tragically crashed in Hot Springs, Virginia.

The incident occurred when the plane was short on its approach to the airport’s runway.

The aircraft struck trees, crashed into a hillside, and subsequently caught fire, resulting in the loss of all five people aboard.

The victims included the pilot, co-pilot, a man, a woman, and a young boy.

Their remains were initially sent to the Virginia Office of the Medical Examiner for identification whilst an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) was kicked off to determine the cause of the accident.

The deceased were later identified as Alfredo Diez, a pilot and flight instructor from South Florida.

The others included his wife and young son and two others.

Truckee CA

Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States.

As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, reflecting an increase of 2,316 from the 13,864 counted in the 2000 Census and having the 316th highest population in California and 2114th in the United States.

Truckee’s existence began in 1863 as Gray’s Station, named for Joseph Gray’s Roadhouse on the trans-Sierra wagon road.

A blacksmith named Samuel S. Coburn was there almost from the beginning, and by 1866 the area was known as Coburn’s Station.

The Central Pacific Railroad selected Truckee as the name of its railroad station by August 1867, even though the tracks would not reach the station until a year later in 1868.

It was renamed Truckee after a Paiute chief, whose assumed Paiute name was Tru-ki-zo.

The first Europeans who came to cross the Sierra Nevada encountered his tribe. The friendly chief rode toward them yelling, “Tro-kay!”, which is Paiute for ‘Everything is all right’.

The unaware travelers assumed he was yelling his name. Chief Truckee later served as a guide for John C. Frémont.

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