Pilot of plane that crashed on Mount Charleston hadn’t filed flight plan, report says

By Mary Manning

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 | 4:36 p.m.

The preliminary report on the crash of a Piper PA-32-300 plane into Mount Charleston that sparked a wildfire and killed four people on June 28 reveals new details.

Eliott Simpson, air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, said that a final report on the crash that killed four people won't be ready for five or six months.

Erik and Tanya Nunn and Craig and Michelle Wilson, all of Byron, Calif., died after the plane crashed into a mountainside near Echo Canyon Lane, a residential area leading up to Mount Charleston, 35 miles west of Las Vegas. The two couples are survived by seven children.

The preliminary report said that the Piper left North Las Vegas Airport at 2:30 p.m. June 28 after adding 43 gallons of aviation fuel to its tank. The pilot had not filed a flight plan.

Then 39 minutes after takeoff, the plane had crashed, the report said.

The crash scene was located at 7,600 feet, surrounded by steep sloping canyon walls between 10,000 feet and 11,500 feet tall.

The plane's path showed that the right wing struck a 12-inch wide tree trunk 40 feet above the ground north of Echo Road. The crash strewed debris for 450 feet and the ensuing fire consumed the entire body of the plane and both wings.

Simpson said he was still awaiting detailed weather information for the time of the crash.

The pilot, Erik Nunn, had been licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration as a private pilot on Sept. 11, 2006 with a rating for operating a single-engine airplane.