Family and friends identify victims of Care Flight crash

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

Five people were killed in the crash late Friday when Care Flight crew were transporting a patient to receive medical attention. Authorities received calls about the incident near Stagecoach around 9:15 p.m. and found the wreckage two hours later. The crash happened amid a winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service in Reno for much 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 small children.

“Transporting patients to life-saving care has been an absolute passion and life’s work for Scott,” his sister-in-law, Katie Maguire Walton, said in an interview GoFundMe page. “He was one of those special people who lit up a room that put a smile on the face of anyone who had never met a stranger.”

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

“Ryan loved being an aviation medic and brought a positive attitude to every call and patient interaction. 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.” GoFundMe page read in his honor.

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

Pricola leaves behind his wife Lauren and two young children.

Care Flight crew transported patient Mark Rand for what it called “life-saving medical treatment.” 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,” reads the fundraising website.

Rand’s friends say the flight was en route to Utah for his treatment, but that was yet to be confirmed Sunday morning.

Care Flight is a service of Nevada-based REMSA Health and Utah-based Guardian Flight.

The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a seven-person investigative team to the crash site and is expected to release more information at a news conference on Sunday.

This article is published by the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of Utah news organizations dedicated to educating readers across the state.