Vegas Extreme Adventures Denies History Of Problems After Fatal Flight

Air combat maneuvers are inherently dangerous, even for trained stunt pilots who put in hours of the training and practice required to perform aeronautical acrobatics. Yet, there are companies that offer air-to-air combat flights for anyone wanting to be the “Red Baron” despite little or no flight experience. Are these companies and their pilots taking too many risks and neglecting safety?

Last month, twelve men traveled to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Nine members of the group were supposed to take part in simulated, air-to-air combat flights on Sky Combat Ace planes with an “instructor” pilot in the back seat of each of the three aircrafts. Sky Combat Ace allows paying customers — even those without any previous flight experience — to fly and control its acrobatic planes. According to the company website, two planes at a time would engage in “air combat” maneuver against each other while the other airplane observed from a safe distance. The Federal Aviation Administration allows anyone to fly a plane as long as there is a licensed pilot alongside to provide instruction.

On the afternoon of April 30, thunderstorms were lurking in the area so the men questioned the company’s refund policy which basically states that customers must go on the flights with the company’s instructor pilots or forfeit their fare money. Rather than lose more than $8,000 due to the non-refund policy, three of the men departed in three of the company’s planes.

Information provided by a company representative revealed that after the simulated air-combat maneuvers, all three aircraft were returning to the airport. When only two planes arrived, the company launched an airplane to conduct a search. The wreckage was discovered a short time later near a hilltop about 12 miles south of the airport, leaving an 800-foot-long path of debris. A 37-year-old company pilot and a 32-year-old customer from Rohnert Park, California, died in the crash of blunt trauma injuries, according to the Clark County coroner’s office.

A representatives of the parent company, Vegas Extreme Adventures, said the company has been providing instructional aerobatic airplane rides to the general public since 2011, and has conducted more than 15,000 incident-free flights during the past five years the business has been in operation. On the contrary, the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board identified multiple safety issues on similar acrobatic flights in the past five years the business has been in operation. None of those cases resulted in injury, though one incident in March 2015 involved the same Sky Combat Ace airplane that crashed April 30.

A preliminary report in this latest incident did not mention a probable cause, but it was noted that visibility was found to be sufficient at the time. There was no flight plan filed. All major parts of the plane were recovered and will be examined for the final accident report, but a probable cause of the crash is expected to take eight months to a year to complete. The FAA is also investigating Sky Combat Ace on legal grounds to see if the company was in compliance with its regulations at the time of the accident.

Lawsuit Financial extends its condolences to the families of these deceased young men.

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