Two die in single-engine plane crash near Truckee-Tahoe Airport

Two people died Tuesday after the crash of a single-engine airplane in Truckee.

Shortly before 7:40 a.m. on July 17, 2018, the single-engine piston Navion-B crashed near the Northstar golf course on the west side of Highway 267, not far from the Truckee-Tahoe Airport.

The pilot left the airport and was heading east at 7:33 a.m. and almost immediately reported engine problems and put out a May Day call. He was trying to return to the airport when the crash occurred, a mile away according to an airport spokesperson.

Killed was the pilot and owner of the airplane, 60-year-old Kenneth Whittall-Scherfee of Carmichael, Calif. One of the two passengers also died after being transported to the hospital, but their name has not yet been released by the Washoe County Coroner. The third person, also unnamed, was critically injured.

The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are at the scene and in charge of the investigation. The Placer County Sheriff's Office has also been at the scene.