STAGECOACH, Nev. (AP) — All five people aboard a medical transport flight, including a patient, were killed when the plane crashed Friday night in a mountainous area of northern Nevada.
The Lyon County Sheriff’s office said authorities began receiving calls about the crash near Stagecoach, Nevada, around 9:15 p.m. and found the wreckage two hours later. Stagecoach, a rural community home to about 2,500 residents, is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) southeast of Reno.
Care Flight, which provides ambulance services by plane and helicopter, said the dead included the pilot, a flight nurse, a flight paramedic, a patient and a family member of a patient.
Barry Duplantis, president and CEO of the company, said Saturday afternoon that relatives of all five victims had been notified, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.. “We send our deepest condolences to their families,” Duplantis said.
The crash came 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 to expect heavy snow, wind gusts of up to 65 mph (105 kph) and periods of whiteout conditions between 4 a.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Sunday.
“It’s a pretty mountainous region,” said Lyon County Sgt. Nathan Cooper said. “Especially at a time like today, it’s not very good.”
The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday morning on Twitter that it had sent a seven-member team of investigators to the crash site. The NTSB is expected to release more information Sunday at a news conference.
Care Flight identified the downed aircraft as a Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. Federal Aviation Administration records show the plane was built in 2002.
The company said in a statement that it was halting flights to focus on helping responders, team members and families.
