Federal investigators probe plane crash that killed two

Keith Paul

Monday, May 1, 2000 | 11:35 a.m.

Investigators continue to search for the cause this morning of a plane crash at the North Las Vegas Airport Friday that killed two Arizona men.

A single-engine Cessna slammed into the ground and burst into flames Friday morning near the runway, killing the plane's 59-year-old pilot, Irving J. Goldstein, and his 52-year-old passenger, Allen Futrell, both of Tucson.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators are looking into the crash, but a final determination of the cause of the 9:45 a.m. tragedy is not expected for several months and could take as long as nine months, said Pat Cariseo, a NTSB spokesman.

Tom Winters was driving by the airport and saw the small plane "having troubles" and pulled into the airport near the runway.

"Its left wing was real high, and every time the pilot tried to bring it down, the wind took it right back up," said Winter, a small-craft pilot since 1981. "The wind then took it and cartwheeled the plane into the ground."

The plane burst into flames when it hit the ground.

Firefighters from North Las Vegas and Clark County came to the crash site along with a medical helicopter, but the two occupants of the plane were dead.

"They had made a couple of attempted landings and then crashed," said Hillarie Grey, a Clark County Aviation Department spokeswoman.

The plane crashed a short distance to the side of the 25 Runway in a dirt clearing. No one on the ground was injured, Grey said.

The charred plane rested still upright on its wheels, but its nose was resting on the ground.

The airport was closed after the crash but reopened less then two hours later, officials said.

The North Las Vegas Airport is the second busiest airport in Nevada behind only McCarran International Airport. In 1999 North Las Vegas Airport had about 230,000 takeoffs and landings.

The airport handles small, noncommercial aircraft, said Debbie Millett, an Aviation Department spokeswoman.

The North Las Vegas Airport opened on Dec. 7, 1941, and Clark County bought the airport in Oct. 1987.

Friday's fatal plane crash appears to be the first on the airport grounds since the county bought the airstrip. NTSB records indicate there have been a couple of fatal plane crashes near the airport or of planes that took off from the airport.

Two people were killed in an Aug. 20 crash into the front yard of a northwest Las Vegas home as the pilot approached the airport. Nine days later a pilot crashed into a vacant lot. The pilot had very minor injuries, but the plane sustained heavy damage.