NTSB investigating plane crash that killed 2 in South Lake Tahoe
Federal investigators are trying to determine what caused a single-engine plane to crash near a South Lake Tahoe home, killing two people.
The Beech 35 Bonanza had just taken off from the Lake Tahoe Airport when it crashed about 5:36 p.m. Saturday near a home in the 1600 block of Tionontati Street.
Deputies arrived to find the plane on fire and flames spreading to the home, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. The home’s occupants escaped unharmed, and firefighters were able to quickly douse the blaze.
Authorities were unable to retrieve the two bodies inside the plane because of nightfall darkness and heat from the fire.
By Sunday morning, investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA arrived and began their probe.
Two bodies were pulled from the plane’s wreckage. Their identities have yet to be determined by the El Dorado County Coroner’s Office.
Rod McFadden and his wife, who were renting the vacation home, had just returned to the residence after watching a play when he felt a strong jolt, he told KCRA-TV. As he searched for a hose, he saw the plane’s wing behind the home.
Bystanders tried to pull the two victims from the wreckage, but the flames were too intense.
“Somebody tried to help but it was not, it was beyond help at that point,” McFadden told the news station. “The flames were really high and that’s when they jumped onto the house and sort of ran up the side of the house.”
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