Two passengers unhurt in Lake Tahoe plane crash
Sun News Service
Washoe County Sheriff's Office officials are confirming that two unidentified people are unhurt after their planed crashed just after 11 a.m. Thursday in Lake Tahoe, just south of the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe pier in Incline Village.
Sheriff's officials say they were notified by the Nevada Civil Air Patrol at exactly 11 a.m. that a plane was going to crash in the lake. The plane crashed and was found upside down in the water, shortly after 11 a.m. when authorities arrived.
The make or model of the plane has not been specified by authorities.
Washoe County Sheriff deputies and Marine 9 jet skis took off from Burnt Cedar Beach, where authorities are staging, to aid the crash victims. The plane will be towed into Ski Beach in Incline, officials said.
North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District's Marine 16 boat had begun towing the crashed plane at about 11:30 a.m., from its crash spot, to Ski Beach in Incline. However, the plane began to take on water in tow, cutting off the towing effort about a half-mile south of Burnt Cedar
Currently, Washoe County Sheriff's Office Deputy Ben Coffindafffer is on a jet ski, transporting buoys to the plane in an attempt to keep it afloat. WCSO and NLTFPD officials also have confirmed there is fuel leaking from the plane into Lake Tahoe.
The Incline Village General Improvement District has shut down the district's water intake pumps from Lake Tahoe as a precaution after the plane crash dumped about 30-40 gallons of fuel and oil into the lake.
Mike Pennacchio, director of risk management for the district, said staff will begin testing the water for dangerous contaminants. If an above-normal level is found, the district may have to warn all IVGID residents in Incline and Crystal Bay to conserve water use.