Pilot error blamed for July plane crash

Wednesday, Jan. 15, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Stanley Bailey, 67, and his daughter Amy, 27, took off from the Carson City Airport for a flying lesson at about 9 a.m. that Thursday. Moments later, a simulated emergency became real when the plane crashed near the north end of Industrial Park in Mound House, just east of Carson City.

The NTSB report said Stanley Bailey, a retired TWA pilot and a certified flight instructor, reduced power to simulate an emergency landing and instructed his daughter to simulate a forced landing approach to a dirt road.

Bailey allowed his daughter to get too low and was unsuccessful when he tried to recover from the maneuver, the Nevada Appeal reported Tuesday.

A factual report issued earlier by the board said Stanley Bailey immediately applied power when the Bellanca 8KCAB aircraft struck the ground.

The engine responded normally, but the airplane's rate of climb was insufficient to clear a tree.

The plane struck the top of the tree and bounced twice before it collided with a concrete barrier, flipped over and erupted into flames.

Amy Baily died on impact.

Stanley Bailey was severely burned but crawled away from the wreckage. He spent six weeks in the burn unit at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where he underwent extensive skin-graft surgery.

His recovery continues at his home in Washoe Valley, the Appeal said.