Ed Lewis was both a CAP and USAF command pilot with more than 28,000 flight hours. He retired from Pan Am as a commercial airline pilot in 1989 to become a research pilot with NASA. Since 1997, he worked at Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., where he instructed in four aircraft C-12, C-20A, DC-8 and T-34C supporting NASA-Dryden flight test programs. He also was the centers aviation safety officer. Lewis military awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Air Medals, Meritorious Service Medal and others. His CAP awards include Distinguished Service Medals, Exceptional and Meritorious Service Awards, Gill Rob Wilson Award, the Search and Rescue ribbon, and others. The CAP airplane crashed on a clear, but moonless night on Mount Potosi about 35 miles SW of of Las Vegas, approximately 2000 ft. below the peak. The cause appears to have been loss of situational awareness.