Care Flight medical aircraft crash in Stagecoach, Nevada leaves 5 dead: report

Authorities are investigating a plane crash in Stagecoach, Nevada, that left at least five people dead, officials said.

Lyon County Sheriff’s Office deputies said the aircraft was operated by Care Flight, a service of the Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority Health, headquartered in Reno. Stagecoach is about 40 miles east of Reno.

“On February 24, 2023, at approximately 09:15 p.m., the Lyon County Dispatch Center received multiple calls of a possible aircraft crash in Stagecoach, Nevada,” Sheriff Brad Pope said.

The plane, later identified as a PC 12 fixed-wing aircraft, was carrying five passengers, including a pilot, a flight nurse, a flight paramedic, and a patient, according to KOLO 8’s Freixys Casado. There were no survivors, she said.

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“At approximately 11:15 p.m., the aircraft was located,” Pope said. “This is still an ongoing incident and investigation.”

Further information will be provided as it becomes available, the sheriff added.

REMSA Health, an emergency medical services provider, also confirmed the crash and said it was notifying family members of the deceased.

“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, Feb. 24, at approximately 9:45 p.m., near Stagecoach, Nevada,” the health provider said.

“Our immediate focus is helping our team members and families, as well as the responding agencies… 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,” REMSA Health said.

REMSA Health’s new fixed-wing program, which includes five bases and a fleet of four helicopters, one airplane, and one Critical Care Ground Transport, covers approximately 50,000 square miles of California and Nevada, and services 11 states across the western United States, according to its website.

The plane identified on their website is a Pilatus PC-12/45.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.