Deadly crash near Reno-Tahoe airport blamed in part on pilot drug use
RENO — A final report into a fatal 2016 airplane crash in near Reno-Tahoe International Airport says the likely causes were pilot drug use and fuel beyond the aircraft’s weight limit.
The Reno Gazette Journal reported Tuesday that the National Transportation Safety Board has ended its investigation into the September 2016 of the crash of the Piper PA-28 Cherokee aircraft shortly after takeoff.
The crash killed two Californians, 57-year-old Robert Drescher and 46-year-old Stevenson Ranch, as well as 34-year-old Ronni Hernandez, whose residency was unknown.
The Federal Aviation Administration website said only Drescher was certified as a private pilot.
The NTSB report cites witness accounts, aircraft data and surveillance footage in its description of the aircraft’s takeoff and climb to 200 feet before it flew out of control and crashed in a nearby parking lot.
