Legislators seek experimental aircraft ban at NLV airport

A joint resolution proposed by state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford and Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick seeks to ban experimental aircraft flights out of North Las Vegas Airport.

The proposal is similar to one passed in December by the Clark County Commission.

It urges Congress to authorize the county Department of Aviation to ban home-built or experimental aircraft flights out of the airport, where one such flight crashed after takeoff last year. The pilot and two people in a home were killed.

The Federal Aviation Administration, however, opposes changes that would infringe on its authority over civilian airspace.

The proposed resolution by Horsford, D-Las Vegas, and Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, has not been heard in committee yet.

Their resolution, dated Feb. 9, says that experimental aircraft have a higher accident rate than other types of aircraft nationwide and that they have been involved in 20 accidents in Clark County since 2003.