5 dead after Care Flight plane crash, including a patient and the pilot; NTSB investigating
Five people — including a patient and a pilot — were killed on Friday after a Care Flight plane crashed near Stagecoach, Nevada, about 45 miles east of Reno. The crash has prompted an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, which announced on Twitter on Saturday that they will host a media briefing on Sunday regarding the incident.
At around 9:15 p.m. local time, the Lyon County Dispatch Center received multiple calls of a possible aircraft crash in Stagecoach, according to a news release from the Lyon County Sheriff's Office. It was confirmed that the aircraft was operated by Care Flight, which is a critical care transport service.
The aircraft — a single-engine Pilatus PC-12 plane with the registration number N273SM — was located near Iron Mountain Road in Stagecoach, Nevada, according Maria Njoku, public affairs specialist with the Federal Aviation Administration.
"We are heartbroken to report that we have now received confirmation from Central Lyon County Fire Department that none of the five people on board survived. The five people on board were a pilot, a flight nurse, a flight paramedic, a patient and a patient's family member. We are in the process of notifying their family members," read a media statement from Care Flight.
"As is Guardian and Care Flight's safety process in these situations, we are in a passive stand down for all Guardian and Care Flight flights across the company. We will work with each of our operations to ascertain when they are able to return to service," read the Care Flight statement.
The Central Lyon Fire Department and the Lyon County Sheriff's Department are working with the NTSB to determine the cause of the crash, which is under investigation by the NTSB and the FAA.
