Pilot in Friday's airplane crash was one week from retirement

Kenneth Horne was seven days away from retirement when the plane he was flying crashed into the front yard of a northwest Las Vegas home killing him and his wife Friday afternoon.

Horne, 55, had worked for nearly 30 years in the range safety office at Nellis Air Force Base working as a civilian pilot.

Horne and his wife, Gwen, 52, were returning home from a Reno chess tournament with a friend when something went wrong and the single-engine Mooney airplane crashed into the yard at 3249 Sisk St.

Sam Sloan, a California resident who attended the Reno event, said he had wanted to accompany Horne on the flight to Las Vegas.

"Horne told me the plane was too full," Sloan said.

The plane crashed at the home near Torrey Pines Drive and Cheyenne Avenue and burst into flames.

John Trivett, 42, was pulled out of the plane, but the Hornes died in the fire.

Both Trivett and Horne had participated in the U.S. Open Chess Championship in Reno.

"I worked with Ken for over four years and the sad thing is he was going to retire on Friday to spend more time with his wife and 10-year-old granddaughter," said Tracy Gladson, who also worked in the range safety office. "He was really big on his granddaughter, she was all he ever talked about."

Trivett, who was pulled from the plane by an off-duty Metro Police officer, suffered severe burns to 30 percent of his body and remains in critical condition at University Medical Center.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but Gladson says Horne was a top-notch pilot.

"He was an experienced pilot that made cross-country flights all the time," Gladson said. "He and Gwen loved to ski and square dance and they'd make flights to Utah and Missouri regularly.

"I have to assume something went wrong up there that was out of his control, because he was just too good a pilot."

Horne had recently had the plane's engine checked and overhauled and he had owned the plane for a number of years, Gladson said.

The plane was on approach to the North Las Vegas Airport when it went down, Federal Aviation Administration investigators said.

The FAA and the National Transportation and Safety Board continue to investigate the crash.

Luckily when the plane crashed near the house, homeowner Estie Barnes was in her back yard with her two great-granddaughters, Miranda, 6, and Bridgette, 8.

"I was using the Weed Eater and the girls were in the pool and we heard the commotion. We came out to see who'd pull a stunt like that and I didn't see the plane until we turned to go back into the yard."

Las Vegas firefighters arrived and put out the flames before they could reach Barnes' home, which she has owned for the last 22 years.

Barnes said "the house can be replaced and other than that we're all here. I'm all thankful."

Dan Conver, a member of the Las Vegas chess community, said Horne had been involved in organizing chess events for many years.

For the past 10 years Horne had been Nevada's delegate to the United States Chess Federation and was a delegate to the meeting held during last week's tournament in Reno.

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