Survivor of 1985 Lake Tahoe Gambling Trip Tragedy is Focus of CNN Special

It started off as any week at Caesars Tahoe leading up to the Super Bowl. Decorations, parties, betting and hype. Only this year was different. It is January of 1985 and the Super Bowl was being held fairly close to Lake Tahoe at Stanford in Palo Alto. Due to the proximity, a group of VIPs was invited to Caesars Tahoe for a few days of pre-Super Bowl fun before flying to the game with a casino host.

After the game, the plane left the bay area and stopped in Reno to drop off the Caesars Tahoe employee as well as pick up some guests that were staying at the Lake Tahoe casino. Galaxy Flight 203 crashed shortly after take off from Reno, killing 68 of the 71 passengers initially (2 others died in the hospital).

I remember the photos on the news that night, football memorabilia strewn across a field, the horrible crash scene. A great sadness filled the casino the next day since many of those that had died had just been enjoying a fun filled week in South Lake Tahoe. They had been eating at the casino's restaurants, playing at the table games and some getting in some skiing on the slopes.

The sole survivor was one of those skiing, 17 year old George Lamson, Jr. Lamson, now a resident of Reno, Nevada. He will have his story told this week in a CNN documentary "Sole Survivor." Along with Lamson, "Sole Survivor" features others who've struggled after being the only survivors of large plane crashes. The national television premier will Thursday, January 16 at 6 p.m. on CNN.