Piper PA-31-350 accident near North Las Vegas, NV
On October 15, 1999, a Piper PA-31-350 (airplane) was involved in an accident near North Las Vegas, NV. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 15, 1999
- Place
- North Las Vegas, NV
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-31-350 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 36.221°N, 115.170°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X19974
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 14, 1999, at 1946 hours Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-31-350, N1024B, was destroyed by impact with mountainous terrain 11 miles north of North Las Vegas, Nevada. The airline transport pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The aircraft, transporting banking paperwork, was operated under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 135 by Ameriflight, Inc., as Flight 121, a nonscheduled on-demand cargo flight destined for Sacramento, California. An instrument flight plan was filed; however, the flight departed VFR from the North Las Vegas airport at 1941, and was operating under visual flight rules at the time of the accident. Night, visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The operator reported that the outbound freight, approximately 300 pounds of bank paperwork, arrived at the North Las Vegas airport about 1 hour late and the flight was departing behind schedule. Because his instrument flight release was not available when he was ready for takeoff, the pilot elected to depart under visual flight rules with the intention of picking up the flight's instrument clearance when airborne. Before issuing takeoff clearance, North Las Vegas Air Traffic Control Tower instructed the pilot to reset his transponder to a VFR code and issued a recommended heading after takeoff of 340 degrees. After takeoff on runway 7, the aircraft was observed to turn left and depart the airport area to the north in the direction of the accident site. The pilot was in radio and radar contact with Nellis approach control at the time radar contact was lost near the accident si
Probable cause
The failure of the pilot-in-command to maintain separation from terrain while operating under visual flight rules. Contributing factors were the improper issuance of a suggested heading by air traffic control personnel, inadequate flight progress monitoring by radar departure control personnel, and failure of the radar controller to identify a hazardous condition and issue a safety alert.
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Browse: Nevada · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
