UPDATE 4:30 P.M. NOV. 3: The plane is being removed from the water.
UPDATE NOV. 3: The plane that crashed on Thursday into water at a local golf course belongs to Sin City Flying Club. It is a Beech B95 fixed-wing airplane.
The flying club, which provides instruction, is based at the North Las Vegas Airport.
It is still unknown at this time who was on the plane.
UPDATE, 11:51 P.M.: Vaughn Lydick and his buddies were walking back to a friend’s home when they heard the crash. “We heard a loud boom behind us.” Lydick said. “We see a plane hit and turn over slightly and fall, head-on into the lake.”
Lydick saw the plane clip a tree then plunge into this lake at Painted Desert Golf Club. “It looked very scary.”
The pilot and another man on board swam to safety, walking toward ambulances without needing help.
All this happened during the evening rush.
Tim Szymanski, a spokesman for Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, said the pilot decided to put the plane down in the water rather than risk injury or worse to commuters on the road or people in their homes.
“This person is probably making a decision in 15 second or less. I’ve got to go down some place, probably saw that lake and just thought, ‘if I go down here and won’t hurt anybody else.’”
No one on the ground was hurt.
ORIGINAL STORY: Emergency crews responded after a plane crashed at Painted Desert Golf Course on Thursday, near Ann Road and U.S. Highway 95.
Reports at the scene indicate there were two people on board the small plane. Both were treated for minor injuries by medical crews at the scene.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane was on final approach to the North Las Vegas airport when they reported that they had lost their #1 engine.
The plane landed in a water hazard, though chunks of the aircraft were scattered throughout the course.
The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash.
