Las Vegas McCarran Airport at a glance reveals that it was named after former US senator Pat McCarran, and is the 24th busiest passenger airport in the world. Sitting just 5 miles south of the Las Vegas Strip, planes can be seen taking off right over many of the areas most majestic hotels. The airport is also the largest operating base for both Allegiant air and Southwest Airlines. America West was once a major operator at the airport as well, but those routes have been scaled back since that airline merged first with US Air in 2005, which was then acquired by American Airlines in a merger announced in 2013. The airport was the scene of a scary incident involving a British Airways 777-200ER that aborted its takeoff roll due to an engine fire under the left hand wing on September 8 of 2015. A video shot from a Southwest jet on the tarmac can be viewed at the link below:
