Five killed including patient, nurse and pilot in medical plane crash
All five passengers aboard a medical transport flight, including the patient, were killed when their plane crashed in the mountains in northern Nevada.
The pilot, flight nurse and paramedic, as well as a relative accompanying the patient all perished in the crash near Stagecoach on Friday night.
Barry Duplantis, president and CEO of Care Flight, which provides ambulance service by plane and helicopter, said: ‘We send our deepest condolences to their families.’
The crash occurred amid a winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service in Reno for large swaths of Nevada, including parts of Lyon County.
The weather service said it was expecting heavy snow, wind gusts of up to 65 mph and periods of whiteout conditions between 4am Friday and 4am Sunday.
‘It’s a pretty mountainous region,’ Lyon County Sergeant Nathan Cooper said. ‘Especially with the weather being the way it is right now, it’s not very good.’
The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday morning on Twitter that it is sending a seven-member team of investigators to the crash site.
The NTSB is expected release more information Sunday at a news conference.
Care Flight identified the downed aircraft as a Pilatus PC-12 airplane. Federal Aviation Administration records show the aircraft was manufactured in 2002.
The company said in a statement that it is halting flights to focus on helping responding agencies, team members and the families.
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