Air Tanker Crew Memorial Saturday
A memorial service will be held tomorrow for the three crew members killed when their air tanker crashed fighting a blaze in the eastern Sierra.
Forty-two-year-old Steve Wass of Gardnerville, was piloting the C-130 when the firefighting plane went down Monday afternoon after dropping a load of retardant on the Cannon fire near the small community of Walker, California, about 25 miles south of Minden.
Also killed were the co-pilot, 36-year-old Craig LaBare of Loomis, California, and flight engineer, 59-year-old Michael Davis of Bakersfield, California.
A memorial service for the three crew members of Tanker 130 will be held at nine o´clock tomorrow morning at Douglas High School.
Another service for Wass, who grew up in Douglas County, is scheduled for eleven o´clock at the Minden Airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board is trying to determine what caused both wings on the four-engine plane to snap off, sending the fuselage plummeting to the ground in a fireball. Investigators say Wass had more than 10,000 flying hours and had the appropriate rating to fly the C-130A.
The NTSB said today that a survey of the wreckage site has been completed. Once the mapping of debris is finished, the pieces will be taken to a hanger in Minden for further analysis.
