Family, friends identify victims of Care Flight crash

Reno, Nev. • The identities of the crew and passengers killed in a medical flight crash outside Reno are being released as efforts are underway to raise money for the victims’ families and funeral expenses.

Five people were killed in the crash late Friday as the Care Flight crew was transporting a patient to receive medical attention. Authorities began receiving calls about the incident near Stagecoach around 9:15 p.m. and found the wreckage two hours later. The crash occurred amid a winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service in Reno for large portions of Nevada.

Scott Walton was the pilot of the PC-12 fixed-wing aircraft and spent many years flying and teaching students around the world. He leaves behind a wife and three young children.

“Transporting patients to receive life-saving care was an absolute passion and life’s mission for Scott,” said his sister-in-law, Katie Maguire Walton, on a GoFundMe page. “He was one of those special people who lit up a room, who brought smiles to everyone’s face, who never met a stranger.”

The paramedic on board the flight has been identified as Ryan Watson, who became a father for the first time last month to newborn Carter.

“Ryan loved being a Flight Medic and brought a positive attitude to every call and patient interaction he had. Ryan had an infectious personality; he was hilarious, ambitious, and free-spirited. He loved traveling the world and going on extreme adventures outside of work with his beautiful wife Kailey, Family, and Friends,” a GoFundMe page in his honor read.

Ed Pricola was the flight nurse on the aircraft when it crashed. The 32-year-old graduated nursing school in 2019 and began participating in medical flights last fall after working as a charge nurse in a hospital emergency department. A GoFundMe page said Pricola put nurse practitioner school on hold to learn critical care and apply his skills in the field.

Pricola leaves behind his wife, Lauren, and two young children.

The Care Flight crew was transporting patient Mark Rand to receive what was described as “lifesaving medical treatment” on a GoFundMe page. Rand’s wife, Terri, was with him and on board the plane at the time of the crash.

“Mark and Terri were big hearted, family oriented, proud parents and grandparents,” the fundraising site said.

Rand’s friends say the flight was on its way to Utah for his treatment, but that had yet to be confirmed as of Sunday morning.

Care Flight is a service of from REMSA Health, which is headquartered in Nevada, and Utah-based Guardian Flight.

The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a seven-member team of investigators to the crash site and is expected to release more information at a news conference Sunday.

This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aim to inform readers across the state.

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