Two police officers in helicopter crash identified
Las Vegas police Sgt. Darin R. Garness was at the controls of the helicopter that crash landed during a training exercise Sept. 24 at North Las Vegas Airport, a police spokesman confirmed Thursday.
The spokesman, officer Bill Cassell, said the other pilot onboard the four-seat Hughes/McDonnell Douglas helicopter was officer Clifford Wicks.
The crash landing caused $1 million in damage to the helicopter built in 1998, a total loss under the insurance policy. Both pilots suffered minor injuries.
Garness joined the Metropolitan Police Department in September 1988 and had scheduled his retirement before the crash. He has since retired.
Wicks remains assigned to air support duties.
Both pilots were certified flight instructors.
A preliminary report released in September by investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board says the pilots were practicing loss of power landing maneuvers in 25 mph wind gusts when it hit the ground.
The training accident occurred at 4:09 p.m. Sept. 24. National Weather Service records show the wind at North Las Vegas Airport four minutes before the hard landing was blowing out of the west at 15 mph, gusting to 25 mph.
The safety board's initial report said visibility was clear enough for "the local training flight, which had originated from North Las Vegas Airport about 30 minutes before the accident. A flight plan had not been filed."
The safety board's preliminary report doesn't state a cause for the accident.
Las Vegas police aircraft have been involved in other accidents in recent years. Most recently, in late May, one of the department's Bell HH-1H rescue helicopters clipped a Red Rock Canyon wall with its rotor blades. The pilot was able to land the aircraft safely, and all five onboard for the training mission escaped injury.
In August, Las Vegas police Air Support Commander Lt. Tom Monahan noted that the department has seven helicopters for police operations, including two HH-1H "Huey" rescue ships, with a Cessna-182 airplane used for high-altitude surveillance.
The department has 17 pilots rated for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at
krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
