The eight people who died during a birthday boat trip on Lake Tahoe last month were found without life preservers after a fierce storm upended their vessel and flung them into the chilly water, according to a new report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
Only two people survived the accident. One was wearing a flotation device, the report said, and the other was clinging to one.
Within about two hours on June 21, the 10 passengers went from enjoying the calm waters of Emerald Bay, a scenic cove on the west side of the lake, to fighting for their lives against a torrent of rain, waves and icy precipitation, according to the preliminary review released this week.
The 28-foot long Chris-Craft boat, named Over the Moon, launched from Tahoe City, Calif., around 10:40 a.m. that morning. It picked up passengers at a nearby marina and traveled about 10 miles south to Emerald Bay. Skies were clear and winds were light when the boat anchored there for about an hour and a half.
As the clouds increased before 2 p.m., the boat operator tried twice to return to the marina, the report said, but he was overwhelmed by wind and waves in Emerald Bay. Hail collected in the boat and waves as large as eight to 10 feet crashed over the side, a survivor told investigators. The boat eventually took on water, its engine stopped and Over the Moon tipped sideways against the waves.
One of the survivors put on a personal flotation device and distributed more devices to everyone else onboard, according to the report.
“No one else immediately donned their P.F.D.,” the report said. “Shortly after, the boat rolled over to starboard, and the passengers entered the water.”
By then, snow began to fall, and the water was 54 degrees in the alpine lake, which straddles the California-Nevada border. Hikers saw the boat capsize shortly before 3 p.m. and called 911, the report said, and another hiker and a lifeguard helped the survivors get out of the lake.
Six people, including the boat operator, were pronounced dead at the scene. Two more victims were recovered from the bottom of the lake the next day, the report said.
After recovering the boat, investigators found one flotation device still in plastic packaging with tags on it, one infant life vest in its packaging, and five inflatable flotation devices in stowage compartments. Electronic systems, two bilge pumps and an engine fuel filter were recovered and sent to a federal lab for further examination. The N.T.S.B.’s final report on the accident is expected in one to two years.
The boat was co-owned by Josh Pickles, a 37-year-old DoorDash executive who had taken his parents and several of their friends out on the lake to celebrate his mother’s 71st birthday. Mr. Pickles, both of his parents, an uncle and four friends died in the accident.
Mr. Pickles’s wife, Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard, had stayed home that day to take care of their 7-month-old daughter. The widow’s spokesman, Sam Singer, issued a statement saying the N.T.S.B. report “confirms the deep tragedy of this accident.”
“Jordan Sugar-Carlsgaard is profoundly thankful for the rescue efforts made by so many first responders and good Samaritans in this tragic situation,” Mr. Singer said.
The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office is also conducting an investigation; it did not immediately respond to an inquiry from The New York Times.
Research has shown that wearing life jackets or other personal flotation devices significantly decreases the risk of drowning. A Coast Guard report last month found that 87 percent of the people who drowned in boating accidents in 2024 were not wearing a flotation device.