Another veteran pilot dies in crash

Another experienced Las Vegas pilot was killed over the weekend in a crash involving a home-built aircraft, the third fatal crash since Aug. 22 involving a local experimental plane or pilot.

William Grant Phillips died in the crash Saturday near southern Utah's Parowan Airport, but his wife, Janice, a passenger, survived with multiple broken bones, Iron County Sheriff Mark Gower said.

Records from the Federal Aviation Administration show Phillips was a highly rated commercial pilot who was certified to fly helicopters and various other aircraft.

His neighbor of 14 years, Bill Rokovitz, said Phillips was "an excellent pilot. There was nothing he ever said that would make you say, 'You took a risk there, Bill.' "

Rokovitz described Phillips as a brilliant guy with a good heart.

"I can't overemphasize how safe-minded Bill was when it came to flying," he said. "He did not take chances."

Phillips, a retired physicist, and Janice Phillips, a photographer, were in a single-engine Heisler Martin Lancair Legacy that received an air-worthiness certificate from the FAA in 2006.

A Web site that tracks flights, FlightAware, shows the flight originated from North Las Vegas Airport on Thursday, destined for Parowan Airport, about 15 miles north of Cedar City, Utah.

Rokovitz said the couple had a cabin in the area and flew there often. Lately, they had been flying there to get the cabin ready for winter, he said.

Gower said, "What we think happened is it started experiencing mechanical difficulties. The pilot tried to return and lost altitude and crashed one mile short of the runway north of the airport."

The sheriff said the couple was returning to the Las Vegas Valley about 1:30 p.m. Saturday when the crash occurred.

"It looks like he didn't have his landing gear down. He could have been attempting to belly land," Gower said.

The plane did not catch fire after it crashed, he said, and the wreckage was recovered by National Transportation Safety Board investigators.

FAA records show Phillips, of North Grand Canyon Drive, was a certified airline transport pilot with commercial privileges for sea landings and takeoffs of single-engine airplanes. A flight instructor for single-engine and multi-engine aircraft, he also was licensed to fly helicopters, gliders and hot air balloons.

Two other pilots killed in recent crashes involving experimental planes also were experienced.

On Aug. 22, veteran pilot Mack Murphree was killed when the home-built Velocity plane he was flying crashed into a house after taking off from North Las Vegas Airport. A couple inside the house, Jack and Lucy Costa, died. The plane was owned by Mike and Kay Killgore, formerly of Las Vegas.

On Oct. 5, former Air Force test pilot Greg Jaspers of Las Vegas was killed when his Bonde TF-51D crashed near Sandy Valley. The plane, known as a Thunder Mustang, was built from a kit by a previous owner in 2003.

Another crash involving a plane that flew out of North Las Vegas Airport happened Aug. 28. It involved a twin-engine Piper Navajo Chieftain, which is not a home-built plane. Pilot William J. Leahy Jr. of Redwood City, Calif., was killed after he reported engine trouble and tried to return to the airport. The plane went down about one mile short of the runway, hitting a tree, power lines and an unoccupied car in the driveway of a house.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.