1 Dead After Plane Crashes Into Nev. House

LAS VEGAS -- A pilot died and 12 people were displaced after a small airplane crashed in between two homes Thursday, about two blocks west of a Las Vegas airport, reported KVVU-TV in Las Vegas.

It was the second plane crash near that airport in less than a week.

Small Plane Crashes Into Las Vegas Homes

The pilot was the sole occupant on the plane, said Las Vegas Fire and Rescue Department spokesman Tim Szymanski.

The crash caused a three-alarm fire, which firefighters extinguished in about 20 minutes.

There were five people inside the more-heavily damaged two-story home when the plane crashed. Ten people reside in the home.

The three adults and two children who were inside at the time of the crash ran to a local Walgreen's for help. A woman was transported to University Medical Center for minor smoke inhalation and is staying overnight for observation.

No other injuries were reported.

In the one-story house at next door, a father and his teenage daughter were home. They said the lights went out in the house, and then they heard a loud thump outside their kitchen. When they went outside to investigate, they found intense flames and ran from the area with their dog, Szymanski said.

Neither family was aware a plane had crashed.

Officials said the plane was attempting to approach North Las Vegas airport at the time of the crash and was about a half-mile away from the runway. The plane originated in California.

The aircraft flew over a construction crew working on the road. The plane then snagged three 7200-volt power lines and then hit the ground, striking a car parked in the driveway of one house, Szymanski said.

The plane came to rest on a concrete block wall between the two houses and burst into flames.

A water tanker used by the construction company was parked in nearby and one of the workers turned on the water and started shooting water onto the plane immediately, Szymanski said.

The twin-engine Piper Navajo aircraft was completely destroyed by the fire. The pilot was found inside the wreckage shortly after 6 p.m. by investigators.

Area schools were temporarily in lockdown mode until the blaze was under control.

The pilot had reportedly radioed for help because he had said he had a "rough-running engine."

The plane is a small twin-engine plane that only requires a crew of one or two people. It can carry up to six passengers and tops out at 216 mph.

Clark County Director of Aviation, Randall H. Walker, released the following statement Thursday afternoon:

“On behalf of the Clark County Department of Aviation, I would first like to express my deepest condolences to those impacted by today’s incident. 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.

“We know that this aircraft, a twin-engine Piper from California, arrived safely at the North Las Vegas Airport earlier this week.

“Our initial information indicates that this aircraft underwent mechanical work during its stay at North Las Vegas. Details of this work have yet to be confirmed.

“The aircraft safely departed from the airfield this afternoon, and while in the air, the pilot reported an engine problem and requested permission to return to the airport.

“Witnesses claim the aircraft was on fire prior to going down within a residential development near Jones Boulevard, south of Cheyenne Avenue, shortly after 2:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

“As I noted, there are several serious questions that cannot be answered based on the information we now possess. Our staff will work to gather additional information, which will be presented when it becomes available.”

Disaster Action Team volunteers from the Southern Nevada Chapter of the American Red Cross responded to the scene and are assisting 12 people, six adults and six children.

Red Cross counselors will be available to offer emotional support if needed, to both the displaced family and the family of the pilot, as they start to come to grips with what has happened.

Over the next several days, Red Cross client casework volunteers will stay in contact with the families and make sure that they have the information and resources necessary to begin the road to recovery.

Red Cross volunteers on the scene also provided canteening services to the firefighters, who fought the blaze in temperatures over 100 degrees.

Three people were killed when an experimental kit airplane crashed into a North Las Vegas home almost a week ago.

That crash happened at around 6:30 a.m. Aug. 22 at, about one mile from the North Las Vegas Airport.

The pilot and an elderly couple in the home were killed.

In late June, a Piper Cherokee plane from California crashed into Mount Charleston, killing four people and causing a wildfire.

After departing the North Las Vegas Airport, the pilot started having trouble near Mount Charleston, eventually striking some power lines and crashing into the mountain.

Residents said they're fed up and scared.

"Something needs to change. They come in so low where we lived, it looked like they were going to clip our balcony. Something has to change," said witness Daniel Holm.

Some neighbors said it’s a horrible feeling when they are constantly looking up expecting the worst.