Recording reveals moments before plane crashed into house near North Las Vegas Airport
Air traffic controllers at North Las Vegas Airport scrambled Aug. 28 to clear a runway for a pilot to land a plane with one of its engines on fire but lost contact with him before he crashed into a house, an audiotape released today by the Federal Aviation Administration reveals.
Eight minutes after William Leahy Jr. departed the airport and was about five miles west of it, he declared an emergency and advised the FAA’s Las Vegas Approach Control facility he was returning to the North Las Vegas Airport. (Listen to the tape: AA Audio of N212HB crash incident from North Las Vegas Airport)
At about 30 minutes into the 39-minute audiotape, a male controller asks: “Two-one-two hotel bravo, what’s he doing?”
A female’s voice replies: “He’s the emergency (inaudible) with burning engines.”
“He’s what?” he asks.
“Emergency left burning engine.”
Moments later, with no communication from Leahy heard on the tape, the Piper Navajo Chieftain that he was flying hit a tree, power lines, and an unoccupied car in the driveway of a house, 1.2 miles west of the runway, killing him and injuring one person in the house. Four others inside escaped without injury.
