UPDATE ~ February 25, 2023 3 p.m. ~ Statement from REMSA Health President & CEO Barry Duplantis on Care Flight Crash:
“As we reported early this morning, REMSA Health and Care Flight are heartbroken to share that last night Friday, February 24, at approximately 9:45 p.m. a Care Flight Pilatus PC-12 fixed-wing aircraft went off radar near Stagecoach, Nevada. Central Lyon County Fire Department has confirmed that none of the five people on board survived; notifications to family members have been made
Our organization is grieving the loss of our valued team members and extends our deepest condolences to their families. Our job as an EMS agency is to care for the communities we serve – and at this time – we also are caring for one another. We are holding our REMSA Health and Care Flight team members and their families close at this incredibly difficult time.
Our focus is and will remain on helping staff and colleagues, as well as their families, cope with this devastating news. We are asking that their privacy be respected.
What I can tell you at this time is the Central Lyon County Fire Protection District and Lyon County Sheriff’s Department are coordinating with the National Transportation Safety Board to determine the details of the crash which is under investigation.
The NTSB will be addressing all questions about the investigation. The NTSB media representative assigned to the investigation is Peter Knudson. He is arriving in Reno this afternoon and will be on-site at the crash location. NTSB will hold a media briefing on Sunday on its investigation and will announce the time and location of the briefing on its Twitter feed.
Our REMSA Health and Care Flight team remains focused on our people and their families. Over the last 24 hours, we have made peer support and mental healthcare resources available to all of our team members 24/7 at our Edison Way campus here in Reno.
Local and regional co-response and healthcare partners have been tremendously supportive and generous with offering assistance for ground, air and dispatch operations, as well as with mental health support. We are so grateful and appreciative of their support.
Our priority now and in the coming days and weeks is to care for the family members of the Care Flight crew and those on board the flight, as well as our entire organization of healthcare providers and staff that will continue to do important day-to-day work across our region. Thank you for supporting them and their loved ones at this time as they cope with this tragic loss.
We will continue to work closely with NTSB and responding agencies and will update the REMSA Health website and social media with any new information as it is available.”
UPDATE ~ February 25, 2023 10:08 a.m. ~ National Transportation Safety Board reported: “NTSB launching a 7-member go-team today to Dayton, Nevada, where a Pilatus PC-12 airplane operated as a medical transport flight crashed last night. Team members, traveling from various locations, will arrive in Nevada by tonight.”
Peter C. Knudson, NTSB Media Relations, wrote, “We plan to have a media briefing in Nevada on Sunday. The location and time will be announced on our twitter feed (@ntsb_newsroom) tomorrow.”
Care Flight Media Statement: First Update Feb. 25 12:24 p.m.
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. 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 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.
Original story: 02/24/2023 at 11:35 p.m. ~
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