{"id":37287,"date":"2020-07-31T20:18:46","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T20:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/07\/31\/navy-flight-surgeon-died-doing-something-he-absolutely-loved\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:07:07","slug":"navy-flight-surgeon-died-doing-something-he-absolutely-loved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2020\/07\/31\/navy-flight-surgeon-died-doing-something-he-absolutely-loved\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy flight surgeon died doing \u2018something he absolutely loved\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the midst of their grief, the family and friends of Navy Cmdr. Chris \u201cPapa Doc\u201d Joas are comforted by the fact that he died doing what he loved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 53-year-old former F-14 Tomcat radar intercept officer-turned-flight surgeon was piloting a rented Cessna 172N aircraft on the afternoon of July 7 when it crashed near Lake Tahoe, California, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joas\u2019 friend, a woman named Peggy McGuire whom he had met while assigned to Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, was also in the plane at the time of the crash and died four days later at a Reno hospital, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly before the crash at 3:23 p.m., a witness saw the plane \u201cflying at about 200 feet above ground level and hear the engine producing a sputtering sound consistent with losing and gaining power,\u201d a preliminary NTSB report states<\/a>. \u201cThe left wing tip struck a tree and the airplane aggressively yawed while continuing to fly low in a southerly direction until it disappeared from the witness\u2019s line of sight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joas was pronounced dead at the scene and the incident remains under investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\t