STAR Flight plans to resume limited service at 7 a.m. Wednesday. Program leaders say both managers and the crew made the decision to get back in the air. The announcement comes on the same day the National Transportation Safety Board released new information in last week's death of flight nurse Kristin McLain. As our Mitch Goulding reports, STAR Flight crews are still getting used to the idea of flying without McLain.
A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board says STAR Flight's hoist was in a “steady spin” shortly before nurse Kristin McLain fell to her death during a greenbelt rescue last week.
The STAR Flight helicopter responded to a woman who had fallen in the Barton Creek Greenbelt in the evening hours of April 27.First responders say they were hoisting the woman up into the helicopter when McLain fell from the hoist. McLain, who worked for STAR Flight for seven years, died at the scene.
According to the NTSB report, the 46-year-old nurse was hoisted down to the ground first and then was sent a backboard for the patient. McLain secured the patient to the backboard. She then signaled to the crew they were ready to be taken back up into the helicopter. When they cleared the trees, the hoist began to spin.
The report says that the pilot flew the helicopter forward to fix the spin and when the hoist had almost stopped, the crew noticed McLain was riding in a lower position than normal—that’s when she fell.
The report also says the helicopter crew followed protocol by performing equipment checks before and during the flight. Sound and video from the incident are still being reviewed.
Click here to read the report.