Pilot Gary Annas, who was killed along with four others when his plane crashed south of Mottsville Lane on Saturday, was a skilled pilot his former wife said on Wednesday.
"He always pulled out the checklist before he took off," Theresa Annas said. "He knew what he was doing thoroughly and would never think about drinking and flying."
She said the 58-year-old was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration to do annual aircraft inspections.
Annas was cooking at a cattle-branding party on a Carson Valley ranch, Theresa said.
"He was at the barbecue all day cooking and serving," she said. "He loved to make people happy."
Gardnerville resident Aaron Rasavage, who was at the event, said participants were working.
"People are making it sound like it was a big party thing," he said. "We were working, we were branding cows. Gary was there last year and knew this year it was coming. I flew with him last year after the party. I've been up with him a hundred times," he said.
Rasavage said Annas did the cooking for the participants.
"I was with him all day and I know for a fact he didn't have a drop of alcohol," Rasavage said.
"He wasn't 100 feet off the ground. It seemed a lot higher."
Rasavage said he could see the passengers waving and the plane banked.
"It was like he lost speed. It is really tricky there," he said.
Theresa Annas said it wouldn't surprise her if the conversation at the branding party turned to flying.
"He ate, slept and breathed airplanes," Theresa said. "That was his first love. He wouldn't want to be on this earth, if he couldn't fly."
She said he often offered people rides in his airplane. He and Gardnerville resident Brent Fahey, one of the passengers killed in the crash, flew regularly.
"He did it all the time," she said. "We've done it a million times. We do flybys, too."
Theresa Annas, who is also a pilot, said she felt something must have gone wrong with the plane that forced it into the steep climb before it nosed over and crashed.
"It could be many things, the engine, the elevator controls," she said. "Something obviously went wrong."
The couple have lived in Douglas County since 1998, moving to the Valley from Pontiac, Mich., where Annas' family operated a charter business which delivered automobile parts.
Annas started flying as a teenager. His father sent him to aircraft mechanics school, so he could work on the company's aircraft.
His father was killed in an airplane crash in 1978 during a parts run, Theresa Annas said.
The couple married in 1989 and came to Nevada for the Reno Air Races, where she said they fell in love with the area.
Annas was the owner of GFA Aircraft Sales at Minden-Tahoe Airport.
Rasavage said Brent Fahey, 30, was his best friend.
In the days since the tragedy, Rasavage, a welder by trade, has been completing landscaping work Fahey arranged.
"He was my best friend. We did a lot of fishing together. He loved fishing and landscaping. He had a green thumb," Rasavage said.
"I never had a friend like that I trusted and who took care of me," Rasavage said.
He said Fahey was just making up "Rent Brent" business cards for his business.
Rasavage said Annas flew him and his girlfriend to Napa, Calif., for a wine-tasting visit and didn't touch alcohol.
"He didn't do that. He never had a drop. He was a good guy and a great pilot," Rasavage said.
A memorial service for Minden resident Paul Dallas, one of five people killed in a plane crash over the weekend, will be 10 a.m. Saturday at the Carson Valley Christian Center on Stephanie Way.
Friends of pilot Gary Annas are invited to a 2:30 p.m. gathering Saturday at Taildragger Cafe at the Minden-Tahoe Airport.
"We'd like people to come who knew Gary and eulogize him," said owner Meg Getty. "We'll be serving food and have a no-host bar. People are invited to come and remember Gary."
The restaurant is at 1150 Airport Road, Minden-Tahoe Airport.
Information, 782-9500.
