The airplane was destroyed, but the pilot and five passengers escaped serious injury March 13 (no, it wasn’t a Friday) when their King Air E90 crashed into the roof of a two-story electronics company building about half a mile south of Reno/Tahoe (Nev.) International Airport in IMC after diverting from the original destination of Truckee, Calif. The crash sheared the nose from the airplane, and a severed wing and engine fell to the ground. Fortunately, the cabin stayed intact.
Visibility at the time of the accident, about 7:40 p.m., was reported as half a mile in snow under a 200-ft ceiling. ATC lost contact with the airplane after the pilot reported he was on a half- to one-mile final on the ILS backcourse for Runway 34L.
The business flight originated in Durango, Colo. Initially the FAA reported erroneously that the airplane had crash landed into a hangar. The airplane, N948CC, is registered to Regent Air Service, an air-taxi operator of Kelseyville, Calif.