STAGECOACH, Nev. — Five people were killed on Friday night when a medical services plane crashed in western Nevada, authorities said.
Update 7:53 p.m. EST Feb. 27: The Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday said that all five people had died from blunt-force injuries in the crash, according to The Associated Press.
The five victims who died have been identified by the medical examiner’s office as Scott Walton, 46; Mark Rand, 69; Terri Rand, 66; Edward Pricola, 32; and Ryan Watson, 27, according to the AP.
Walton was identified as the pilot. His grandfather flew B-24 planes in World War II, the AP reported.
Pricola and Watson were identified by the medical examiner’s office as the two medical crew members on the plane.
- Jessica Goodman, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
Original story: The Care Flight aircraft crashed in Stagecoach at about 9:45 p.m. PST, KOLO-TV reported.
According to a statement from REMSA Health, the pilot, a flight nurse, a paramedic, a patient and a family member of the patient were killed.
“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,” RESMA Health said in the statement, which was posted on Facebook. “We are in the process of notifying their family members.”
The Lyon County Sheriff’s Office said searchers found the aircraft at about 11:15 p.m. PST, KOLO reported. REMSA identified the plane as a PC 12 fixed-wing aircraft with tail number N273SM.
It is unclear what led to the crash.
“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,” REMSA Health said in a statement. “We will work with each of our operations to ascertain when they are able to return to service.”
The company added that its focus was in “helping our team members and families, as well as the responding agencies.”
The crash is under investigation by the sheriff’s department, according to a news release.
Stagecoach is located about 40 miles east of Reno and about 15 miles west of Silver Springs, KOLO reported.
