RENO, Nev. — The investigation continues into what caused a Salt Lake City-bound medical flight to crash in Nevada Friday night. Crews remain outside of Reno looking for pieces of the Pilatus PC-12 that broke apart thousands of feet up in the air.
Meanwhile, the families of the five people who died are grappling with the sudden tragedy.
The brothers of the pilot, Scott Walton, said the grief and disbelief come in waves.
Just days before he took off the runway one last time, he told his mother that he “loved his job every day.”
“We know he was doing what he loved and that’s all anyone can ask,” said his older brother, John Walton.
“The highest the flight obtained was just over 19,000 feet when radar noticed the aircraft was in a descending right turn,” said NTSB vice chairman Bruce Landsberg in a press conference Sunday.
The crash killed Scott along with Ed Pricola and Ryan Watson, the medical crew on board. The passengers, Mark and Terri Rand, also died.
“He was all-business when he [flew],” said John. “He took it very seriously. He was great at what he did.”
Scott's brothers find solace thinking of all the lives he saved in his career.
“The only thing that he was prouder of than the work he was doing was of his family,” said his younger brother, Michael Walton.
Scott was the father of three girls. He was born in Minnesota and grew up in small-town Ohio. His family lives in the Midwest, and he would commute to his work as a medical flight pilot.
He loved hockey, running, and rollercoasters.
“He was absolutely up for anything and really personified living in the moment,” said Michael.
Whether people encountered Scott personally or professionally, his brothers said he exemplified “finding joy in just about anything.”
“I found myself the last two days thinking that’s something we could use now more than ever,” said Michael.
Scott's sister-in-law created a GoFundMe campaign to support his widow and their three daughters. There are also GoFundMe pages for the other four victims.
It’ll take a couple of weeks to get a preliminary report from the NTSB about the potential cause of the crash. The probable cause will take 12 to 18 months.
The plane was operated by Guardian Flight, a medical transport company based in South Jordan, Utah. According to the NTSB, this crash is Guardian Flight’s fourth NTSB investigation over the last few years. Of those four incidents, there have been 11 fatalities.
Guardian Flight declined to interview, writing, “Our focus is on helping our team members and families, as well as the responding agencies involved in this incident.”
