Some early media reports on the fatal plane crash of an American Medflight air ambulance in Elko last month said the plane appeared to have lost power shortly after takeoff.
But as Reno Public Radio’s Noah Glick reports, the company is questioning that assumption.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident and released a preliminary report late last month.
That report included a witness account of the crash, which says during the initial climb the airplane made a left turn, then stopped climbing and turned abruptly left and descended out of sight.
While a power outage could explain that activity, nothing in the agency’s initial report suggests that.
American Medflight President and CEO John Burruel says he’s not sure where that information came from.
“In all of our conversations with the NTSB, ‘Hey is there any indication, do you have any idea of what happened?’ there is absolutely no speculation on their part," he says. "We wouldn’t want to speculate either, because that interferes with the actual fact-finding.”
An NTSB spokesperson says he cannot comment on an ongoing investigation and that a full analysis typically takes up to eighteen months to complete.