2 killed in plane crash near Truckee airport. Plane missed its approached before going down
Federal investigators were expected to arrive at the crash site Sunday. A plane crash near Truckee Tahoe Airport killed two people. The single-engine Daher-Socata TBM700N turboprop plane went down after missing its approach to land on Runway 20. The flight path indicates that the plane was attempting a "go-around" for its missed approach. The crash site was located near the airport, but no homes were damaged. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined pilot error led to the crash. This is the first fatal incident at the Lake Tahoe-area airport since 2021 when a Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed, killing six people. Since 2005, the airport has had four fatal incidents, with 11 deaths.
Published : a month ago by Sacramento Bee in Travel General
Federal investigators were expected to arrive Sunday following a plane crash that killed two people near Truckee Tahoe Airport on Saturday evening.
The single-engine Daher-Socata TBM700N turboprop plane went down at 6:38 p.m. near Glenshire Drive and Olympic Boulevard after trying to land on Runway 20, according to officials at the airport. The flight path of the plane, which originated at Centennial Airport near Denver, indicates that the plane was attempting a “go-around” for its missed approach on the shorter of Truckee’s two runways. Data from FlightAware shows the plane climbing several hundred feet and starting to turn when it lost altitude.
The crash site is about 3,000 feet north of the airport across the Truckee River and close to the railroad tracks, but law enforcement officials said no homes were damaged. Runway 2/20 is the shorter of two runways at 4,650 feet; Runway 11/29 is 7,000 feet.
Two people on board were killed, officials said. The high-performance plane, which was manufactured in 2022, based in Truckee and owned by Incline Village, Nevada-based AvRam Enterprises, was destroyed.
Weather conditions at the time of the crash indicated that visibility was between three-quarters and one-half of a mile amid overcast skies and light snow, according to the airport’s automated weather station.
Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will travel to Truckee to investigate the cause of the crash.
Saturday’s crash is the first fatal incident at the Lake Tahoe-area airport since 2021 when a Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed, killing six people, after it tried to circle the airport to land on the longer runway. The twin-turbofan jet spiraled from the sky and burst into flames when it struck a wooded area near Ponderosa Golf Course.
The NTSB determined pilot error led to the crash — investigators said the probable cause of the accident was the first officer’s “improper decision” to attempt to save a poor approach with a steep left turn, and the captain’s failure to intervene. Both the pilot and first officer reportedly ignored protection system warnings, the NTSB said.
Since 2005, the airport has had four fatal incidents that have killed 11 people. The airport has roughly 35,000 aircraft operations annually, according to airport officials, which is about 95 takeoffs and landings per day.