NTSB says plane fell apart mid-air before crashing near Reno

So tonight we are learning more about the five people who died in the medical flight that crashed in Nevada this weekend. The aircraft was on its way towards Salt Lake City, was operated by a South Jordan company, apparently with a history of NTSB investigations. FACC 13 News reporter Emily Tenser has more now on what investigators say could have caused this tragedy. She joins us live now in the studio. Emily, Amy, this is a Pilatus PC 12 NG acts very similar to the 2002 Pilatus PC 12 that was bound for Salt Lake City Friday night. Today a spokesperson with the National Transportation Safety Board says the plane's right wing and its horizontal stabilizer and elevator just broke apart thousands of feet up in the air. When a medical flight to save a life tragically takes away four more aviation investigators want to figure out what caused a plane to fall apart made air.

We'll have a pretty good idea then of why but right now we just don't know. According to GoFundMe, Mark Rand and his wife, Terry, were on a care flight from Reno to Salt Lake City for life saving medical treatment for Mark. Scott Walton was the pilot Ed Prickola, the flight nurse and Ryan Watson, a first time father to a newborn last month was the flight medic. The highest the flight attained was just over 19,000 feet. One radar noticed that the aircraft was in a descending right turn. The Pilatus PC 12 was only in the air for 14 minutes when it crashed outside Reno. No one survived over stress is one of the things the aircraft could encounter turbulence.

We don't know that yet. NTSB Vice Chairman Bruce Landsberg says this crash is unusual. Investigators are looking at all possibilities with weather getting quote very close scrutiny. These airplanes are designed to fly in that type of weather condition, but obviously there could be something. The investigative team will also look at pilot reports and maintenance records. The aircraft was operated by Guardian Flight, a medical transport company based in south Jordan. This will be the fourth event that the NTSB has investigated with a Guardian flight over the last several years.

In December, a Guardian operated flight went down near Hawaii, killing three people. Three others also died in a crash in Alaska in January 2019. Then T S B also investigated another incident in Arizona where a pilot lost control as for this crash, the preliminary report should take about two weeks and the probable cause 12 to 18 months reporting live in the studio. Emily tensor fox 13 news Utah. Mhm.

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