It Wasn't Pretty, But Lives Were Saved

It was a rough landing, but two men who might otherwise have perished are alive now, thanks to one of them, who took the controls after the pilot lost consciousness and got the Jetprop Commander on the ground.

The pilot, Douglas Reichardt of Henderson, NV, later died at a Las Vegas hospital.

Reichardt and his passengers, who were not identified by authorities, were headed from North Las Vegas to San Diego, CA, according to their flight plan. But shortly after take-off, Reichardt called for help.

"The pilot did make contact with the air tower, with the control tower and told them that he was having difficulty breathing," North Las Vegas Fire Department Capt. Jim Wittmer told KLAS-TV News. The breathing problem got worse and soon, Reichardt lost consciousness.

That left one of his friends, a man who had flown gliders a quarter-century ago, at the controls. But all controllers in the tower at North Las Vegas could do was keep traffic out of the Commander's way.

"The passengers were either unable or they were unfamiliar with how to communicate with the air tower," Wittmer said. "The control tower did a great job. They realized what was going on, they cleared the airport of all traffic."

The passenger-turned-pilot was able to bring the aircraft down, but was 600-feet short of the runway, according to media reports.

"Amazingly enough he made it back here to the North Las Vegas Airport, took a couple of passes at the runway and made an attempt to land," Wittmer told KLAS.

The aircraft was destroyed and the two survivors on board were seriously hurt, according to a spokesman for University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

FAA Preliminary Accident Report

IDENTIFICATION
 Regis#: 337DR    Make/Model: AC95   Description: 695 Jetprop Commander 980/1000
 Date: 05/05/2005   Time: 1614

 Event Type: Accident  Highest Injury: Serious   Mid Air: N  Missing: N
 Damage: Destroyed

LOCATION
 City: NORTH LAS VEGAS  State: NV  Country: US

DESCRIPTION
 ACFT CRASHED SHORT OF NORTH LAS VEGAS ARPT. PILOT BECAME INCAPACITATED
 ENROUTE, REQUIRING A PASSENGER TO FLY THE ACFT. ACFT IS REPORTED DESTROYED
 AND PILOT SUFFERED SERIOUS INJURIES. THREE PASSENGERS WERE TAKEN TO
 HOSPITAL. NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV

INJURY DATA   Total Fatal:  0
         # Crew:  1   Fat:  0   Ser:  1   Min:  0   Unk: 
         # Pass:   2   Fat:  0   Ser:  0   Min:  0   Unk: 
         # Grnd:        Fat:  0   Ser:  0   Min:  0   Unk: 

WEATHER: 1619Z 23010G14 10SM FEW23/02 A2982

OTHER DATA
 Activity: Pleasure   Phase: Approach   Operation: General Aviation

 Departed: NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV     Dep Date: 05/05/2005  Dep. Time: 1530
 Destination: SAN DIEGO, CA SAN    Flt Plan: IFR     Wx Briefing: U
 Last Radio Cont: UNKN
 Last Clearance: CLRD TO LND ANY RWY

 FAA FSDO: LAS VEGAS, NV (WP19)         Entry date: 05/06/2005

FMI: www.ntsb.gov