Sunday, November 05, 2017

Beech B95, N9628R, Sin City Flying Club LLC: Accident occurred November 02, 2017 near North Las Vegas Airport (KVGT), Clark County, Nevada

The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating 
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Las Vegas, Nevada

Aviation Accident Preliminary Report - National Transportation Safety Board: https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

Sin City Flying Club LLC:  http://registry.faa.gov/N9628R

NTSB Identification: WPR18LA023
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, November 02, 2017 in Las Vegas, NV
Aircraft: BEECH B95, registration: N9628R
Injuries: 2 Minor.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On November 02, 2017, about 1735 Pacific daylight time, a Beech B95, N9628R, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing after a reported loss of engine power near the North Las Vegas Airport (VGT) Las Vegas, Nevada. The flight instructor and commercial rated pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was registered to Sin City Flying Club LLC, and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight. The flight departed VGT about 1630.

According to the pilot, on final approach, the engine began to surge and lost power. Unable to make the airport, he decided to land on a nearby field located on a golf course. During the landing, the airplane's right wing struck an obstacle which resulted in substantial damage to the wing. The airplane came to rest in a pond, submerged in water.

The airplane was recovered to a secure storage facility for further examination.



LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) — A crane lifted a small plane from a pond at the Painted Desert Golf Course in the northwest valley on Friday.

The FAA continues its investigation into why the pilot made an emergency landing into the water.

The landing was reported just before 6 p.m. on Thursday at the course located near U.S. 95 and Ann Road.

Tom Morcom sat on a nearby retaining wall to watch crews slowly pull the twin-engine onto the fairway.

"I thought they’d have scuba gear on but they dived in just like you or me. I was shocked,” said Morcom.

Slow and steady was the name of the game.

"You don’t want to ruin it anymore,” Morcom continued.

Virgil Green took pictures as the crews worked to bring the plane to higher ground.

"This is something you don’t see every day. Probably don’t see in a lifetime,” said Green.

Las Vegas Fire and Rescue says the two men onboard the plane survived and were rushed to UMC with minor injuries.

An official cause of the crash has not been released but a spokesperson with the FAA says the plane was in route to the North Las Vegas airport when the pilot reported losing an engine.

Sources tell us this plane is affiliated with the Airwork flight school. News 3 reached out to the school but the owner declined to comment.

For 40 years, Len Guerin with EGA Aviation has repaired and inspected countless aircraft.

"In this case, it sounds like they did everything correctly,” explained Guerin. "Pilots are trained for these types of emergencies, to understand them, to be able to react with the proper steps, to bring down the aircraft safely."

It’s still unclear what went wrong.

"There’s a number of possibilities or reasons. It could be fuel starvation. It could be fuel management. It could be a mechanical issue,” explained Guerin.

In other words, the pilot may have run out of fuel, switched to an empty tank, or experienced engine failure.

FAA investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what happened.

The back nine holes of the Painted Desert Golf Course are currently closed. Golfers are still taking advantage of the first nine holes.

The course is hoping to open the back nine holes by Saturday.

Story, video and photo gallery ➤ http://news3lv.com





A small plane ended up in a pond during an emergency landing Thursday evening at a private golf course in northwest Las Vegas, police said.

First responders were called about about 5:40 p.m. about the landing at the golf course Painted Desert Golf Club, 5555 Painted Mirage Road, near Lone Mountain Road and U.S. Highway 95.

FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said a Beechcraft Travel Air plane “crash landed” on the golf course. “The aircraft was on final approach to the North Las Vegas airport when they reported they had lost their #1 engine,” Kenitzer said in an email.

Two occupants were reported out of the plane at the course, Las Vegas Fire Department spokesman Tim Szymanski said. He pointed out the crash happened during a busy time of day, and pilots are taught to land their planes where they can do the least amount of damage in emergency situations, such as highways or fields.

“This was probably the best possible place that they could’ve brought this aircraft down, and it’s a commendable job what they did,” Szymanski said.

The two suffered minor injuries and were taken to University Medical Center, Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Jay Rivera said.

Szymanski later tweeted the pilot reported the engine out and the plane was going to make an emergency landing, adding the pilot then reported they were in the water. He said the two occupants got out on their own and met paramedics at a nearby address.

A witness, Joe Ippolito, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he saw two men swim away from the plane.

He said he heard “some type of sputtering, a little bit of a thud” while standing in his driveway. He then saw the plane’s tail enter the pond at the course.

“I go, ‘Where’s the rest of the airplane?’” Ippolito recalled saying to himself.

He said he had hoped the tail was attached to the airplane rather than parts of the plane breaking up in the air.

Ippolito, 68, said he saw what appeared to be skid marks and debris on the course near the pond before the sun set Thursday night.

A handful of people gathered on a Lone Mountain Road bridge over U.S. Highway 95 to gawk at the scene. Among them was Pablo Duran, 38, a neighbor who was sitting on the ledge with his legs hanging over the side.

Duran didn’t see the crash, but he heard the sound, which he described as sounding like a crash on the highway.

“The only difference, we don’t hear any tires,” Duran said.

It wasn’t clear Thursday night from where the plane was coming.

Roadways were not affected by the crash, police said.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident.


Story and photo gallery ➤ https://www.reviewjournal.com




LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV) — The FAA continues its investigation into a plane that made an emergency landing in water at the Painted Desert Golf Course in the northwest valley on Thursday.

The landing was reported just before 6 p.m. on Thursday at the course located near U.S. 95 and Ann Road.

Las Vegas Fire and Rescue says the two men onboard the plane survived and were rushed to UMC with minor injuries.

An official cause of the crash has not been released but a spokesperson with the FAA says the plane was enroute to the North Las Vegas airport when the pilot reported losing an engine.

Sources tell us this plane is affiliated with the Airwork flight school. News 3 reached out to the school but the owner declined to comment.

The FAA has not given an update on the investigation or when the plane will be removed from the water.

The back nine holes of the Painted Desert Golf Course are currently closed. Golfers are still taking advantage of the first nine holes.

The course is hoping to open the back nine holes by Saturday.

Story, video and photo gallery ➤ http://news3lv.com







LAS VEGAS (KTNV) - UPDATE, 11:51 P.M.:  Vaughn Lydick and his buddies were walking back to a friend’s home when they heard the crash. “We heard a loud boom behind us.” Lydick said. “We see a plane hit and turn over slightly and fall, head-on into the lake.” 

Lydick saw the plane clip a tree then plunge into this lake at Painted Desert Golf Club. “It looked very scary.”

The pilot and another man on board swam to safety, walking toward ambulances without needing help.

All this happened during the evening rush.

Tim Szymanski, a spokesman for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, said the pilot decided to put the plane down in the water rather than risk injury or worse to commuters on the road or people in their homes.

“This person is probably making a decision in 15 second or less. I’ve got to go down some place, probably saw that lake and just thought, ‘if I go down here and won’t hurt anybody else.’”

No one on the ground was hurt.

ORIGINAL STORY: Emergency crews responded after a plane crashed at Painted Desert Golf Course on Thursday, near Ann Road and U.S. Highway 95.

Reports at the scene indicate there were two people on board the small plane. Both were treated for minor injuries by medical crews at the scene. 

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane was on final approach to the North Las Vegas airport when they reported that they had lost their #1 engine.

The plane landed in a water hazard, though chunks of the aircraft were scattered throughout the course.

Story and video ➤ http://www.ktnv.com