http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/27693804.html EDITORIAL: NLV Airport safety Long odds: two crashes, two houses destroyed, four dead The odds are almost as unbelievable as the tragedy: In less than a week, tw= o different airplanes crashed into two different houses near the North Las = Vegas Airport, killing a total of four people. The airport, which caters mostly to general aviation and regional air tours= , is one of the busiest in the country. And it has had more than its share = of newsworthy accidents over the past 10 years, including several emergency= landings on city streets, runway collisions and deadly crashes on takeoffs= and landings. But in all of these incidents, life and property outside the airport were l= argely spared. This past week's accidents, on the other hand, left two homes in smoldering= ruins. The Aug. 22 crash of an experimental aircraft killed Jack and Lucy = Costa inside their North Las Vegas house, as well as the pilot, 76-year-old= Mack C. Murphree Jr. Thursday's crash could have been much worse, as 10 pe= ople managed to flee a Las Vegas house near Jones Boulevard and Cheyenne Av= enue after a twin-engine Piper Navajo Chieftan smashed into the garage. These accidents have, justifiably, prompted many folks who live near the No= rth Las Vegas Airport to question their safety. The prospect of having an a= irplane plunge from the sky and into a home is, quite suddenly, more plausi= ble than it was only a few weeks ago. "Two fatal plane crashes occurring less than a week apart is cause for seri= ous concern, and we have several questions to which we are now seeking answ= ers," Clark County Aviation Director Randall Walker said Thursday. Good. Federal investigations into these crashes already are under way, but = their findings won't be made public for perhaps a year or more. Local aviat= ion officials need to determine whether they can do anything to make the No= rth Las Vegas Airport safer for its users and its neighbors. But all that said, no number of policies or precautions can prevent some ac= cidents that result from mechanical failure or pilot error. North Las Vegas= Airport is not the only set of runways to be built in relative isolation, = only to be surrounded by houses in subsequent years. And the many thousands= of people who decided to buy homes near the airport had to know their choi= ce carried some risk. This week, that risk was realized, defying long odds -- twice. Copyright =A9 Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2008 =0A=0A=0A <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> If you wish to unsubscribe from the AIRLINE List, please send an E-mail to: "listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx". Within the body of the text, only write the following:"SIGNOFF AIRLINE".