Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
North Las Vegas Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
North Las Vegas, Nevada 89030
Tuesady, September 23, 2003 12:55 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Piper Arrow (N8604N) was landing on runway 12R and the Piper Mirage (N146PM) had started the takeoff roll on runway 7 when they collided at the intersection of the two runways. The Piper Arrow was cleared to land on runway 12R, 54 seconds before the Piper Mirage was given a takeoff clearance on the intersecting runway. During this time frame, the local controller and local assist controller were both viewing the D-Brite radar and looking out the tower cab's rear windows for a helicopter that had entered the class D airspace without authorization. With both controllers attention diverted to the helicopter, they failed to effectively monitor the runway operation and did not ensure proper separation was maintained between the two airplanes operating on the intersecting runways. Radar data indicated when the pilot of the Piper Arrow contacted the LC-1 controller and reported inbound for landing, the airplane was approximately 6 miles north-northeast of the airport and tracking a course of about 200 degrees. The airplane remained on that course, and the pilot was cleared to land when the airplane was approximately 2 1/4 miles north-northwest of the airport. About 20 seconds later the airplane began a left turn towards the airport. The airplane’s radar track indicated the pilot of the Piper Arrow flew a standard base leg to final approach, in accordance with the issued clearance. When the LC-1 controller cleared the pilot of the Piper Mirage for takeoff, the Piper Arrow was about 1 1/2 miles northeast of the airport on final to runway 12R with the data tag on the D-Brite radar showing a ground speed of 110 knots. Assuming that Piper Arrow’s ground speed remained 110 knots or less during the remainder of the approach, the airplane was about 1 minute away from touchdown. This meant that the pilot of the Piper Mirage had less than 1 minute to power up his aircraft, taxi on to runway 7, begin a departure roll, and travel about 725 feet in order to pass through the intersection of runway 12R before the Piper Arrow crossed the landing threshold for runway 12R. While this is not impossible, the minimal time available for Piper Mirage to depart before the Piper Arrow arrived warranted close monitoring by the controllers to ensure that separation was maintained at the intersection.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Control Tower local controller and local assist controller to effectively monitor the runway operation and ensure proper separation was maintained between aircraft on intersecting runways.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/23/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1255 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | North Las Vegas |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89030 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 361245N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1151146W |
| Event Location Airport | North Las Vegas |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | VGT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | VGT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2205 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 30 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17582 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 23 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1330 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2005 2:59PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Las Vegas, NV FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8604N | N146PM |
| NTSB Number | LAX03FA298A | LAX03FA298B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Substantial | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28R-200 | PA-46-350P |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 28R-7135124 | 4622160 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2600 | 6000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 1 2003 12:00AM | Feb 12 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 35 | 68 |
| Airframe Hours | 4524 | 965 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | J and P Holdings Inc. | Sam Johnson |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3124 Beach View Ct. | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Las Vegas | Las Vegas |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89117 | 89137 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | West Air Aviation | Samuel Johnson |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 2642 Airport Dr. | -- |
| Operator City | North Las Vegas | -- |
| Operator State | NV | -- |
| Operator Country | USA | -- |
| Operator Zip code | 89032 | -- |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SGU | VGT |
| Departure City | St. George | N. Las Vegas |
| Departure State | UT | NV |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1200 | 1255 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | VGT | SLC |
| Destination City | N. Las Vegas | Salt Lake City |
| Destination State | NV | UT |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing | Takeoff - roll/run |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12R | 7 |
| Runway Length | 5000 | 5005 |
| Runway Width | 75 | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |