Wreckage removed in probe of plane crash into LV home

Federal investigators on Saturday removed the wreckage from the twin-engine plane that crashed into a house on Thursday and will be using the evidence to determine the cause of the crash.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge Wayne Pollack said the plane, a Piper Navajo Chieftain, should have been able to fly with one of its two engines running.

Both engines failed, and Pollack said he was going to be looking at whether the failure revolved around the airframe, engine or some other source.

The plane was flown out of the North Las Vegas Airport by 38-year-old William Leahy Jr. of Redwood City, Calif., an accomplished pilot bound for Palo Alto, Calif.

Shortly after takeoff, Leahy complained of a "rough-running engine," according to the Federal Aviation Administration, and turned around to return to the airport.

On the way back, he clipped some trees and a power line before crashing into a two-story home on Jones Boulevard near Cheyenne Avenue, about half a mile from the runway.

Five people who were inside the home escaped. Leahy died.

Pollack said the pieces of the airplane would be taken to Arizona for the investigation, which could take more than a year.

The crash was the second into a home in less than a week. On Aug. 22, an experimental plane crashed into a single-story home near the North Las Vegas Airport, killing the pilot and an elderly couple inside the home.