Update as of Saturday, March 28 at 10 a.m. – The Five Lakes closure has been terminated following the completion of incident investigation and the successful extraction of the aircraft from National Forest lands.

TRUCKEE, Calif. — In order to provide for public safety following a downed aircraft within the U.S. Forest Service’s Granite Chief Wilderness, Tahoe National Forest has issued the closure of all National Forest lands and trails surrounding the incident location. The closure is effective through April 7, 2026 and may be terminated earlier if public safety measures are mitigated. 

The closure is required for public safety due to current unknown dangers resulting from wreckage and to allow public service partners to complete required incident investigations. The National Transportation Safety Board serves as lead agency on the crash investigation.  

At this time, individuals are restricted from: Going into or being in the Five Lakes Closure Area. The Five Lakes Closure Area is 1/2 mile from accident site located northeast of Five Lakes Being on National Forest System Trail 16E13, commonly known as the Five Lakes Trail, from the Five Lakes Trailhead west to the western junction of Forest Trail 16E27, within the Five Lakes Closure Area. The full Tahoe National Forest Five Lakes Closure order, including a map detailing the closure area, can be found here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/tahoe/alerts/five-lakes-closure

Outside of emergency response measures, the use of all motorized and mechanized equipment is prohibited within federally designated wilderness areas. This includes but is not limited to the use of all motorized vehicles and all mechanized equipment such as bicycles. Launching, landing and flying a drone in or over wilderness areas is also prohibited.