The Federal Aviation Administration is sending investigators to the scene of the crash of a single-engine vintage military jet in the desert near a suburban Las Vegas-area airport.
Officials say the male pilot escaped serious injury and was the only person aboard the Strikemaster jet when it crashed just after takeoff about noon Monday near Henderson Executive Airport. His name wasn't immediately made public.
Airport spokeswoman Christine Crews says police interviewed the pilot near the burning plane about a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) south of the airfield.
Henderson fire spokeswoman Kathleen Richards says no one on the ground was injured, and no structures were near the crash scene near Volunteer Boulevard.
She says the site is about a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) from Henderson's Inspirada neighborhood.
The Strikemaster is a two-seat light-attack aircraft produced by British Aircraft Corporation from 1967 to 1984.