The sky was literally falling in Las Vegas, Nevada this past week when a hatch from an ex-military Douglas A-4 Skyhawk fell into the backyard of a “Sin City” resident near Nellis Air Force Base.
According to numerous reports, a piece of an airplane fell from the sky and landed atop a home in a residential neighborhood very near a school. Witnesses who were near the where the piece landed described the fall and subsequent landing as if a bomb had exploded. Speaking with Fox5 KVVU Maria Delgado, whose house was hit by the aircraft part, said, “I heard like a loud boom! And then I came downstairs and I looked and there it was just like a big piece of metal right there.”
Given the proximity of the landing to the Air Force’s Nellis AFB, which was only a few miles from the impact site, many rightly assumed that the piece was from a military plane. Soldiers from the base quickly showed up to the landing site after local police were made aware of the crash landing. Luckily, no one was hurt, though a car and Delgado’s roof was mildly damaged.
A spokesperson from Nellis AFB told Fox5 KVVU that “An access panel fell off a Draken [International] aircraft this afternoon shortly after departing Nellis AFB on a routine training mission.” Draken International is a military contractor that assists in the training of Air Force pilots. The company operates 109 ex-military training fighter jets, including Douglas A-4 Skyhawks, Aero L-159s, and MiG21s.
Nellis AFB’s statement continued, saying, “Draken, along with our Nellis partners and the FAA, are conducting a thorough investigation to identify the cause. Draken remains focused on safety in every step of maintenance and flight operations. We appreciate the continued support from Nellis and the surrounding communities, and are thankful no one was injured.”
One eyewitness told ABC KTNV, “When it hit, it was loud. The first thing I did was run in the house. I’m not going to lie, I was scared. I thought it was a shooting, that’s how loud it was.” Unfortunately, it wasn’t aliens finally making their presence known. Though, that might come to be sooner than we think.