MEYERS, Calif. — A pilot killed in a single-engine plane crash near Lake Tahoe was a surgeon at Naval Air Station Fallon who served in Iraq and was part of a rescue team that helped save an injured rock climber who was stranded in the Sierra a year ago.
Officials at the air station identified the pilot Monday as 53-year-old Christopher Joas. The plane he was piloting crashed on Tuesday, July 7, in a wooded area near several homes in Meyers, Calif., southwest of South Lake Tahoe Airport. At the time of the crash, the El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies said they found the small single-engine Cessna 172 plane "crumpled and upside down in a wooded area," sheriff's officials said.
A passenger, 51-year-old Margaret McGuire, later died at a Reno hospital.
Federal Aviation Administration Public Affairs Manager Ian Gregor said the FAA will investigate to find out what caused the plane to crash.
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