N. Las Vegas Seeks to Ban Experimental Aircraft

[SkySteve]

FYI. In case you haven't seen this. It was posted today in the Mirage Flying eNewletter:

Local Las Vegas Officials Seek to Ban Experimental Aircraft Operations.

Following a pair of accidents involving homebuilt aircraft licensed in the 'Experimental' category, local officials are hoping to ban Experimental aircraft from using North Las Vegas Airport. On August 22, a homebuilt Velocity crashed into a residential area shortly after takeoff, killing the pilot and two people on the ground. The Clark County (Nevada) Board of Commissioners passed a resolution on December 2 authorizing the county to petition the state for authority to restrict the airspace over North Las Vegas. The request was spearheaded by the Clark County director of aviation, Randall Walker. FAA Western-Pacific Region spokesman Ian Gregor responded, "It would cause tremendous disruption—even chaos—to air traffic operations nationwide if every local community were allowed to arbitrarily decide which aircraft could and could not land at local airports." The Experimental Aircraft Association added its voice to the debate, with Vice President of Industry and Regulatory Affairs Earl Lawrence telling a local newspaper, "You would be allowing an airport manager to determine on his own what could come and go." EAA has pledged to "roll out strong opposition," should the measure reach as far as Capitol Hill.
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[Slyfox]

Ya this is garbage. Just the other day a military F18 crashed just outside Sandiego on landing and killed people on the ground. I bet military airplanes won't be banned there.

[Slyfox]

make sure and let them know you are doing this and why.

[jonbakerok]

Ya this is garbage. Just the other day a military F18 crashed just outside Sandiego on landing and killed people on the ground. I bet military airplanes won't be banned th8ere.

Actually, they are talking about closing the base.

But it brings up an interesting question for Las Vegas. Are they also going to ban military aircraft? Because at least that Velocity driver had his own life invested in avoiding casualties on the ground. Maybe they ought to think about closing Nellis if they're worried about falling aircraft.

The Marine pilot in the San Diego crash punched out at 2200 ft when his SECOND engine flamed out on final. There was a school full of kids 200 yards to the left of the crash site and an uninhabited canyon 200 yards to the right. Why wasn't he in that plane making sure it went into the canyon? F18 ejection seats work at zero altitude!

And think about this -- the second engine failed shortly after the first one. Doesn't that sound like fuel starvation to you? If the investigators find that's the cause, that pilot should go to jail. Inexecusable.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm a vet and a strong supporter of the military. But if they aren't teaching Marine pilots about duty any more, I'd sure rather live next to a GA airport than a military base.