Simple battery charge turns expensive for Las Vegas pilot

Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005 | 9:16 a.m.

A Las Vegas pilot charging the battery in his single-engine plane took an unexpected ride Sunday at the Boulder City Airport, crashing into a metal hangar and barely missing tanks full of oxygen. The pilot escaped injury.

The accident happened about 11 a.m. when John Schoumaker of Las Vegas turned on his Comanche 400 to charge the battery, officials said.

The plane sped off and Schoumaker couldn't stop it despite applying his brakes, said Mike Minshell, the airport director.

The plane, moving less than 10 mph, went about 75 feet before crashing into the city-owned hangar, he said. The plane's left wing struck an airport electrical building.

The plane hit the building less than 10 feet away from full oxygen containers used by the helicopter ambulance service Mercy Air, according to Boulder City Fire Capt. Larry Bounty. He said he doesn't think the plane could have hit the containers because of their location behind the electrical building, but he said they could have exploded if ruptured.

About 30 gallons of fuel from the plane spilled onto the ground, and firefighters doused the plane with foam. The plane also cut through an electrical line in the hangar, officials said.

"He was most fortunate to get out with a scratch," Bounty said. "There was fuel on the ground all around that electrical building. The oxygen containers were right there in the midst of it all. We could have had a fire."

Bounty said Schoumaker tried to shut off the plane but broke the key in the ignition.

The plane, worth at least $200,000, was a total loss, Minshell said.

The hangar, leased by Air Excel, sustained about $20,000 in damage, he said. Schoumaker is responsible for the damage, he said. The electrical building sustained minimal damage.

Because the plane wasn't airborne or taking off or landing at the time of the mishap, no federal investigation is required, Minshell said.