CARSON CITY, Nevada: Authorities have said that a medical transport flight that crashed in a mountainous area in Stagecoach, northern Nevada, last week apparently broke apart in the air before hitting the ground.
All five people aboard the plane, including a patient, were killed, authorities added.
A seven-member team of investigators was sent by the National Transportation Safety Board to the site of February 24th's crash.
During a news briefing in Carson City, Safety Board Vice Chair Bruce Landsberg said, "How do we know if the airplane broke up in flight? We found parts of the airplane one-half to three-quarters of a mile away from the crash scene."
The crash occurred amid a winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service in Reno for large swaths of Nevada, including parts of Lyon County.
According to the weather service, when the flight left Reno for Salt Lake City, Utah, visibility was under two miles, with a cloud ceiling about 2,000 feet above ground.
Care Flight, which provides ambulance services by plane and helicopter, identified the downed aircraft, confirmed that the pilot, a flight nurse, a flight paramedic, a patient and a patient's family member all died, and said it would ground all flights until further notice.
Authorities began receiving calls about the crash near Stagecoach around 9:15 p.m. on February 24 and found the wreckage two hours later, Lyon County Sheriff's office said.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the plane was registered to Guardian Flight, based in South Jordan, Utah. Care Flight is a service of REMSA Health in Reno and Guardian Flight.
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