Last Updated: US Crash Witness: It Sounded Like Plane In Distress A pilot has died after an aircraft operated by a military contractor out of Nellis Air Force Base crashed in a nearby residential area, authorities in Las Vegas said Monday. A pilot has died after an aircraft operated by a military contractor out of Nellis Air Force Base crashed in a nearby residential area, authorities in Las Vegas said Monday. A statement attributed to base spokesman Lt. Col. Bryon McGarry confirmed the crash occurred about 2:30 p.m. Florida-based company Draken US owned the aircraft, and said in a statement that the pilot, whose name has not been released, had died and no one else was on board.