Sunday, April 19, 1998 | 2:23 a.m.
A private plane crashed into a house in northwest Las Vegas Saturday, narrowly missing two young boys playing with a computer.
The pilot was not injured and his lone passenger suffered facial cuts.
One of the boys suffered cuts on his leg while his brother and parents escaped injury.
"It was nothing short of a miracle," said Tim Szymanski, a spokesman for the Las Vegas Fire Department. "I've seen a bunch of plane crashes in my 30 years, but never anything this bad where everyone escaped serious injury. I couldn't believe we didn't come out with four fatalities."
The incident began just before 11 a.m. when the North Las Vegas Airport notified the fire department that a Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft on final approach was experiencing engine problems.
Just before the crash, the pilot advised the tower the plane had lost power. Contact was then lost between the plane and the tower.
Numerous 911 calls were received reporting the aircraft had crashed into a house off Rainbow between Smoke Ranch and Cheyenne.
Arriving firefighters found the plane had slammed into the back of the house. The occupants of the plane - a 51-year-old pilot and 48-year-old passenger - were found lying on the patio. Their names were not immediately released.
Neighbors used home fire extinguishers on the downed craft, fearful of an explosion, Syzmanski said.
Occupants Dave Omura, 30, and his wife, Geri, 33, fled the house with their sons, ages six and eight. The only injury among the family was to the 6-year-old, who suffered cuts on his legs from flying glass.
The plane broke out the windows and a patio door in the back of the house. The aircraft came to rest three feet from where the two boys were playing, according to Szymanski. The plane's landing gear was in the kitchen.
"It's amazing the glass didn't shred the boys," Szymanski said. "It was all over the house."
The plane crashed about two miles short of the airport, which has seen a dramatic increase in private air traffic with the growth of the city and increased commercial traffic at McCarran International Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the crash.
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