Officials investigate the scene of a plane crash west of the North Las Vegas airport Thursday. The pilot was killed, but no one on the ground was injured when the twin-engine Piper Navajo plowed through power lines and crashed into a driveway.
Photo by The Associated Press
A small airplane experiencing engine trouble clipped some power lines and slammed into a house about a mile short of a North Las Vegas Airport runway Thursday afternoon, killing the pilot and setting the home ablaze.
It was the second plane to hit a house near the airport in less than a week
The twin-engine Piper Navajo Chieftan crashed at 2:34 p.m. at 2828 N. Jones Blvd., a two-story house south of Cheyenne Avenue. The plane began experiencing a rough-running engine shortly after takeoff and was returning to the airport when it went down, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
Multiple people called 911 about 2:32 p.m. to report a low-flying airplane that was on fire over U.S. Highway 95, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.
Motorist Regina Williams was on the highway near Lake Mead Boulevard when she saw the plane overhead. It tipped right and almost hit the sign for Romano's Macaroni Grill on Rainbow Boulevard, she said.
"It was just coasting," she said. "There was no oomph."
Moments later, David Willis saw the plane approach as he worked on a rooftop air conditioner unit. He said he saw the plane, with the propeller turning, clip a couple of tall trees before the right wing caught on the power lines.
"It somersaulted into the garage, and that's when it exploded," the 40-year-old said.
The plane burst into flames, he said, and he believed the force of the explosion tilted the blue sedan in the driveway.
He said he ducked briefly behind the air conditioner unit for fear of debris hitting him, he said.
"I was thanking God that it didn't hit anything over here," he said, referring to his perch directly across the street.
The pilot, whose name was not released, was the only person on the plane, Szymanski said. Authorities recovered the body in the cockpit about 6:15 p.m., he said.
Ten people were in the house during the crash, and all but one escaped without injury, he said. One woman was treated at University Medical Center for smoke inhalation, he said.
"When they ran out the door, all they could see was intense flames," he said. "Neither of the families knew it was an airplane crash."
A man and teenager in the neighboring home to the south also escaped unhurt, he said.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene in the crash aftermath as flames shot 30 feet in the air and dark plumes of smoke made it difficult to see the home from across the street. Witnesses also said they heard explosions after the crash and saw people fleeing the burning home by running into the street.
A construction crew working up the street rushed to the house and sprayed it with water from a tanker truck used to keep dust down. Firefighters, who were already headed to the airport in case of an emergency landing, quickly arrived at the crash site and kept the flames from spreading to neighboring homes.
The combination of the crash and ensuing fire gutted half the home and consumed what appeared to be a Ford Taurus or Mercury sedan in the driveway.
The American Red Cross was arranging hotel rooms for the now-homeless families.
About 900 Nevada Power customers lost electricity because of the crash, but most had power restored within two hours, a company spokeswoman said.
The 27-year-old aircraft, owned by Aeronet Supply in Gardena, Calif., was headed for Palo Alto, Calif., Gregor said. The company did not return multiple messages left at its headquarters.
Clark County Aviation Director Randall Walker, who oversees operations at the North Las Vegas Airport, said in a statement that the plane landed at the airport earlier in the week and underwent mechanical work, but he had not confirmed details of the work.
This was the second crash in less than a week into a house near the airport, which is one of the busiest in the country with more than 219,000 flights last year.
A homemade, experimental Velocity 173RG rear-propeller-driven aircraft crashed Aug. 22, killing the pilot and an elderly couple in their home.
"Two fatal plane crashes occurring less than a week apart is cause for serious concern, and we have several questions to which we are now seeking answers," Walker said.
Review-Journal reporters Maggie Lillis, Lawrence Mower, Antonio Planas and Keith Rogers contributed to this report. Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.
