ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – We’re learning more about the four victims, who died in a tragic plane crash just days ago. Family members and those who worked closest with 37-year-old Nick Mancuso remember him as gentle and kind, saying he will be missed.
A family, still in shock, after losing a husband, father, son, and for Alyssa Montoya, a brother in law. “This is truly something we never would have thought would have happened,” said Alyssa Montoya, Mancuso’s sister in law.
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Nick Mancuso tragically died in a plane crash while working as a flight paramedic. Leaving behind his wife of 14 years and his four year old daughter, Lenny, or as he called her “his small girl”. “If I was outside with her, she’d see a plane outside and she’d be like, there’s my daddy, like he’s at work right now. And so that’s something she was really proud of,” said Montoya.
The medical community is grieving with the family, including his former CSI Aviation partner, Andrea Griego. “He wasn’t just a teammate, he wasn’t just a partner. He was part of our family,” said Griego.
CSI Aviation confirmed in a press release, commercial pilots Jeffrey Tuning, Amanda Benson, and flight nurse Kameilia Chavez were also on that flight. The crew was on its way from Albuquerque, to pick up a patient from the federal Indian Health Service Hospital in Chinle, Arizona. That’s when the plane crashed and caught fire near the airport there.
Still grappling with the new reality, Griego is hoping to honor his life and legacy. “I just feel speechless too because there’s just so much, so much about him. You know, his dedication to his family, his dedication to his career,” said Griego, going on to say, “He was one of the most phenomenal people I’d ever met…He’s going to be missed.”
CSI Aviation released a statement offering their condolences to the grieving families saying, in part, “We are sharing your grief, praying for your peace and healing, and believing without a doubt that none of these exceptional human beings, will be forgotten.”
An investigation of the accident is still underway with multiple agencies including the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration, and local law enforcement.
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