Wal-Mart Heir Dies In Plane Crash

(CBS/AP)  One of the country's richest men, John Walton, died Monday when his homemade aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from the Jackson Hole Airport in Wyoming just after noon.

Walton, 58, a son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and a member of the company's board, was piloting a lightweight, homemade aircraft. It crashed near the airport in Grand Teton National Park, the company said.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

In March, Forbes Magazine listed Walton as No. 11 on its list of the world's richest people, with a net worth of $18.2 billion, tied with his brother Jim Walton. In 2004, Forbes listed Walton, along with his two brothers, a sister and mother as the fourth wealthiest people in the United States.

The crash occurred at approximately 12:20 p.m., according to Wyoming news sources, and the cause has not yet been determined. Walton, 58, was the aircraft's sole occupant.

The plane is an experimental class of aircraft, the National Park Service told the Casper Star-Tribune. It had a light, gas-powered engine and an aluminum frame, with wings wrapped in cloth, making them similar to boat sales. Similar aircrafts weigh less than 500 pounds.

"We're sad that John Walton, who was well-known and much-loved in this valley, died doing something that he loved to do, which was fly aircraft," said Joan Anzelmo, a spokeswoman for Grand Teton National Park.

"I saw parts of it," she said. "I didn't realize what I was seeing at first. It was so lightweight it looked like a giant model airplane."

Walton was the second son of Wal-Mart founder, Sam Walton. Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer: 4,000-plus stores around the globe. The family controls 38 percent of Wal-Mart, Forbes reports.

As a board member of the Walton Family Foundation, Walton played a leading role in guiding the Foundation's contributions to elementary and high school education, including scholarship programs to provide parents with greater choice in education.

John Walton was known as a major advocate of school vouchers, and he also backed many endowed scholarships.

Walton served in the U.S. Army Green Berets as a medic during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Silver Star for saving the lives of several members of his unit while under intense enemy fire.

Walton pursued a variety of business interests throughout his life, including work as a crop duster in the 1970s and as a boat builder in the 1980s and 1990s. More recently, Walton formed the holding company True North, which is composed of businesses ranging from advanced composites to boat building to venture capital investments.

He was chairman of True North Partners, which invests in technology companies.

Walton served on the Wal-Mart board of directors for 13 years, beginning in 1992.

Walton attended the College of Wooster. He is survived by his wife Christy and their son, Luke, his mother Helen, two brothers, Rob and Jim, a sister, Alice, and their families.