NTSB Cites Pilot Error, ATC Shortage in Fatal Las Vegas Midair

The report targets pilot error (one aircraft lining up for the wrong runway), controller mistakes, and controller staffing shortages as probable causes in the accident.

A Piper PA46-350P Mirage was inbound from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on an IFR flight plan. The 82-year-old pilot, who lived in Las Vegas, was experienced, with commercial, instrument, multiengine, and flight instructor ratings. He had logged more than 6,500 hours total time. His wife and copilot, 76, had accumulated more than 1,500 hours, with more than 250 hours logged in the Mirage.

The second aircraft, a Cessna 172, was on a training flight with a 47-year-old student and a 40-year-old instructor. The Mirage was cleared from the north for a left downwind to the visual approach to Runway 30L and acknowledged the clearance. The Cessna was executing touch-and-goes in right patterns for Runway 30R.

Despite having acknowledged clearance to land on Runway 30L, the Piper overshot the centerline, overtook the Cessna and collided a quarter mile from the approach end of Runway 30R. According to the report, the tower controller did not issue an advisory to either aircraft. He told the NTSB that, in addition to his normal four 10-hour weekly shifts, he had worked an estimated 300 hours of overtime that year, with no anticipation that the workload would diminish. He said he was fatigued on the day of the accident but felt that it did not affect his performance. He said it was customary to have two aircraft on opposing patterns for the parallel runways.

Runways 30L and 30R at North Las Vegas, which opened in December 1941, are much closer than the recommended separation. The controller told the board that he did not recall hearing a conflict alert but described the alert as “white noise” given how often it sounded.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.