There is a John Borchers who works at Stanford --

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To Observer, You are sharp as a tack, Sherlock....seeing as it states right in the article that Dr. Borchers was an instructor at Stanford Medical School.

To the Borchers family: our sincere sorrow for your loss!

I want to extend my condolences to the Borcher family. It is extremely sad to see someone who was extremely skilled, whom I am sure as helped many people, die so young. He will be missed by this community.

I was deeply saddened to hear this news. My friend is the daughter of Dr. Borchers. My heart goes out to her and the rest of the family. This is certainly a tragic loss to the family and the Palo Alto/Stanford community.

My daughter is a friend of Dr. Borcher's youngest daughter. She's out of the country now and will be shocked to hear the terrible news when she gets back. I know that she will do her best to help her friend cope. I never met Dr. Borcher but his family has my deepest and heartfelt sympathy.

My deepest condolences to the family in the loss of a wonderful father and husband.

I'm confused. Some articles say he just landed his first solo flight in June, which means he may or may not have gotten his FAA private pilot's rating. I know that it took me 4 months from the time I soloed to complete my ASEL (airplane single engine land) rating because I also have a full-time job and a family; maybe Dr. Borchers was able to get it done quicker.

I had night flight training -- with an instructor -- as part of the last couple of weeks of my instruction. But if he was a brand new pilot, or if he still was a student pilot, going out for a night flight to Reno is a very strange and extremely risky thing to do.

If he was still a student, it was illegal.

Does anyone know whether he had completed his ASEL rating?

I am extremely saddened by this news, I was a patient of Dr. Borchers. In his office on his desk was a picture of him and his family snow skiing. He was such a considerate man. I am in shock and I will miss him.
Thank you Dr. Borchers for being such a compassionate Doctor and helping me through out such a painful time. You will be missed immensely!

A very intelligent man, but no common sense. He did not have a pilot license, he did not have enough experience and it is very tipical for doctors pilots to be over confident. I am a bit supicious, maybe he committed suicide. I hope he had good insurance, I can see lawyers having some fun with this!!!

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My condolences to the family.

This is terribly unfortunate and preventable.

I have sailed in the Lake Tahoe mountain area, and the winds are like nothing I have ever seen on planet earth. It's one of the most demanding areas to manage in a boat and in the sky there's certainly a possibility it could be a nightmare. To see a novice pilot do this suggests a level of confidence that, in one area could have been justified (expert physician), being inappropriately transferred to another.

I've read quite a few comments on several different sites in the past couple of hours. I understand and agree with much of what has been said but, shouldn't our concern be for Adam, Grace, Lauren, Michele and the rest of his family. The curse of the information age is that the details of this tragedy will overshadow the event itself. I've lost a friend and brother. A family will never be the same. I think a little respect would be in order.

I hate to speculate but i would bet my money that the doctor lost control of the airplane due to spatial disorientation. Flying at night over featureless terrain without any instrument experience is a great way to kill yourself. Look up JFK junior accident.

reading some of these comments make me upset that some would even consider to write such things with having not met my father at all.
it goes to show how life is taking so selfishly toward some of you.

I loved my father will all of my heart and i KNOW everyone who knew him did. If there are questions to you please note that you should know a person first before judging them. And that i sit here and read them, do you really think a child should deal with extra pain and suffering?

Dad rest in pure peace and you are the only thing that ever mattered to me and i love you still with all my heart. you were a wonderful and brilliant man.
Love always, Gracie your daughter

I had surgery by Dr.Borchers in Santa Rosa, because of him my life was given back to me, my heart breaks to know that such a skilled surgeon is gone, to his family--I am so sorry for your loss, he was the best, god bless