Pilot whose plane crashed into home identified

By Mary Manning

Published Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 | 9:43 a.m.

Updated Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 | 11:51 a.m.

New information has been learned about 76-year-old Mack Creekmoore Murphree Jr., of Dayton, Nev., who was at the controls of the experimental aircraft that crashed into a northwestern Las Vegas house on Friday, killing himself and two residents in the home.

Murphree had been licensed as an airline transport pilot both for single engine and commercial aircraft, Federal Aviation Administration records reveal.

He also had privileges to pilot multiengines and private pilot privileges for Glide AeroTow. He was licensed as a ground instructor and a flight engineer for turbojet powered craft, as well as a mechanic.

Murphree owned a Stits Playboy SA3B single-engine fixed wing aircraft that could be used for stunts.

The Clark County coroner's office said the cause of his death was multiple injuries due to the crash of a Velocity 173 RG, an aircraft made from a kit, that he piloted Friday.

Neighbors also said that Lucy Costa, 76, of North Las Vegas and her husband, Jack Costa, 80, were in the home at the time of the crash. The coroner's office said that Lucy Costa died from acute carbon monoxide poisoning from the fiery crash that demolished their home at 2313 Langdon Way about 6:28 a.m. Friday.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said that authorities are still investigating whether the Velocity aircraft that crashed had been flown long enough to fly in populated areas. Experimental aircraft typically must be flown 25 to 40 hours in rural, unpopulated areas before attempting a flight over populated areas, FAA regulations state.

The National Transportation Safety Board began combing through the plane's wreckage in a North Las Vegas warehouse this weekend. Eliott Simpson, the principal air investigator, said it could be a week before preliminary results from the crash are known.

The plane is owned by Mike L. Killgore, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

It had been flown a total of five hours out of Boulder City and Jean airports in Southern Nevada after it was registered in 2002 with the FAA, Gregor said.

Friday's flight of the four-seat aircraft with a single propeller mounted in the rear was the first takeoff of the craft from North Las Vegas Airport, officials said.

Clark County Aviation Director Randall Walker said he will seek help from the Nevada congressional delegation to ban experimental aircraft from busy airports like North Las Vegas, which has had a history of mishaps and accidents in the past.

Current flight regulations are governed by the federal government.

North Las Vegas is ranked as the second busiest airport in Nevada.