Report released on plane crash involving isle native

A federal agency has released details of a plane crash at dusk Sept. 7 in Las Vegas in which a Hawaii native on board the aircraft was severely burned.

A witness at the airport monitoring the tower frequency with a handheld radio saw the plane taxi as the pilot performed the final checks, “all while the passenger door was open,” the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report said.

The engine sounded normal and the left entry door was closed prior to getting clearance to take off and entering the runway.

Hawaii native Thomas Craig VIII, formerly of Mililani and now a San Diego resident, was severely burned after the plane crashed. Two others, including a student pilot and an instructor, died while another was injured.

A GoFundMe page set up by the family for Craig states doctors say he is doing as well as can be hoped for, but remains in critical condition.

The Beechcraft C-24R, piloted by a student, hit a roadway shortly after takeoff about a quarter-mile from the departure end of the runway at Henderson Executive Airport.

It was registered to So Cal Leasing LLC and operated by California Flight Academy.

The report said the plane was about 50 to 100 feet off the ground when it appeared to struggle to gain altitude, climbed a few feet then descended, the witness said. That’s when he heard the pilot on the radio request to return to the airport.

The plane climbed 50 to 100 feet more, then banked left, nose down, and struck the ground, the witness said.

The plane was being used as an instructional flight as well as to transport a mechanic and another pilot from Gillespie Field Airport in San Diego/El Cajon, Calif., to Las Vegas, so they could return a company plane to San Diego.

One of the plane’s occupants told an airport employee that it was too hot and that the airplane couldn’t climb to get around the mountains.

The crash occurred at 7:50 p.m. local time.

The plane’s main wreckage was partially consumed by fire after it hit the roadway. The cabin, the wing’s inboard sections and the fuel tanks were destroyed by fire.