4 Dead After Small Planes Collide in Skies Near Las Vegas
John Locher/AP/Shutterstock
Four people died when two single-engine planes crashed over the North Las Vegas Airport in Nevada on Sunday afternoon.
The planes, a Piper PA-46 and a Cessna 172, each had two people on board when they collided at around noon, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
The North Las Vegas Fire Department confirmed in a statement that four people died in the incident but did not identify them, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The department did not immediately return PEOPLE's request for comment.
"Preliminary information indicates that the Piper PA-46 was preparing to land when it collided with the Cessna 172," the statement said. "The Piper crashed into in a field east of Runway 30-Right and the Cessna fell into a water retention pond."
John Locher/AP/Shutterstock
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The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are now investigating the crash.
Incident Alert- at aprox 12pm today NLVFD and LVFR crews responded to a report of a mid air collision at the North Las Vegas airport. At this time there are 4 reported fatalities. Accident is still under investigation. pic.twitter.com/HhyeCDLrnE
— CNLV Fire Department (@NLVFireDept) July 17, 2022
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A pilot told the Review-Journal that he was "surprised" the accident, which happened in clear weather, occurred at the airport.
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"It's very wide open," Dore Rodine, 58 told the outlet. "There's not a lot of buildings or structures in this area, and with an active control tower at the time that it occurred. I'm really surprised that there wasn't better terrain awareness either by one of the pilots or by the control tower."
