The Naval Air Station Fallon, in a press statement released on Monday, July 13th, revealed the names of the two people who died in a plane crash in South Lake Tahoe Basin in the Meyers area of California. They are the pilot, Cmdr. Christopher Joas, 53, and his sole passenger, Margaret McGuire, 51.
The Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman. The accident report showed that the incident happened on Tuesday, July 7th. Joas piloted a single-engine Cessna Skyhawk II plane that crashed in a wooded area near the unincorporated Meyers community.
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According to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, deputies found the plane crumpled and upside down with Joas and McGuire on board. The pilot succumbed to his injuries at the scene, while the woman made it alive to the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno with an air ambulance.
The sheriff’s office said that the victim died while receiving treatment. They added that the incident happened near several homes off the California State Route 89, but there was no fire to alert the residents of the area. The ECSO said they contacted the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board to handle the investigation into the cause of the incident.
Joas, before his death, worked with the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center at Fallon, Nevada. He has been at the center since June 30th, 2017, and has been working as a senior flight surgeon. NAS spokesman Zip Upham said the victim was to leave Fallon in less than a month and report to the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.
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