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Pilot Had Flown Thousands Of Hours

Investigators Say They're Trying To Extricate Plane From House

POSTED: 3:47 pm PDT August 29, 2008
UPDATED: 9:54 pm PDT August 29, 2008

There are more details about Thursday's fatal plane crash in northwest Las Vegas -- from the focus of the investigation to the identity of the pilot.

Investigators were at the scene of the crash all day Friday.

Officials said they're trying to figure out how to extricate the plane, because part of it is still buried underneath the house.

Family members identified the victim as Bill Leahy, 38, of California.

Officials have not confirmed his identity but said the pilot was a professional with thousands of hours of flight time under his belt.

Investigators said the plane was headed to Palo Alto, Calif. The pilot called for an emergency landing about half a mile from the North Las Vegas airport.

Moments later, the plane clipped a tree, took down power lines and then crashed into a home in northwest Las Vegas.

“The focus of the investigation has three major areas. We look at the environmental conditions -- the weather; we look at the pilot -- competency background, training; and aircraft structure, maintenance history,” said Wayne Pollack of the National Transportation Safety Board.

Investigators said they will also examine the amount of fuel on the aircraft.

NTSB officials won't speculate whether it was engine problems that caused the crash.

They said the aircraft should be taken off site sometime over the weekend.


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