NTSB investigators documenting wreckage of a Pilatus PC-12 airplane at the crash site in Dayton, NV.

Crash of Pilatus PC-12/45, N273SM

What Happened

Read the Preliminary Report now available for download in CAROL - NTSB's query tool to find information about investigations and recommendations. Release Date: 16 March 2023

View on scene photos on NTSB Flickr

This information is preliminary and subject to change.

Release date: 27 February 2023

We are investigating a Pilatus PC-12/45, N273SM, which crashed near Dayton, Nevada on Febr.24, 2023. The pilot and 4 passengers were fatally injured.

The flight departed on an IFR flight plan from the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, Reno, Nevada, at 2100 Pacific, with an intended destination of Salt Lake City, Utah. Preliminary ADS-B data shows that the airplane departed runway 16L and climbed to 18,300 ft msl. The airplane tracked a northeasterly heading until 2113 when a descending right turn was observed. The data showed that the airplane remained in the descending right turn until ADS-B contact was lost at an altitude of 11,100 ft msl.

Snow showers in the area during the timeframe of the accident. Reports of rime ice.