Care Flight crash in Nevada which killed all 5 people on board reportedly 'broke up' mid-flight
STAGECOACH, NEVADA: Five people were killed in a Care Flight plane crash in Nevada late Friday night, February 24, at about 9.45 pm. According to the latest reports from the National Transportation Safety Board, the plane reportedly broke apart during the flight.
NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg claimed in a press conference, "The flight was in the air for about 14 minutes and had reached an altitude of just over 19,000 when radar noticed the plane was in a descending right turn at a high rate of descent."
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"The last radar return showed the plane at an altitude of 11,000. The evidence that we have at this point is that the aircraft broke up in flight. Several parts of the plane have been recovered, but the aircraft wasn’t equipped with a cockpit voice or fight data recorder," Landsberg said.
What is current status of crash investigation?
Landsberg said that an 11-member team from the NTSB would be on site for several days to gather as much evidence as possible. He added that the investigation would focus on the pilot, the aircraft, maintenance records, fuel and weather conditions. "A preliminary report would be available in the next two weeks," said Landsberg.
What was the response of REMSA Health?
REMSA Health shared a post on Facebook which read, "Care Flight, a service of REMSA Health, headquartered in Reno, Nevada and Guardian Flight, headquartered in Utah, can confirm that a PC 12 fixed wing aircraft, tail number N273SM, went off radar Friday, February 24, at approximately 9.45 pm, near Stagecoach, Nevada. 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. Our immediate focus is helping our team members and families, as well as the responding agencies."
The post further read, "The Central Lyon Fire Department and Lyon County Sheriff’s Department are coordinating with the National Transportation Safety Board to determine the cause of the crash which is under investigation. 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."