By Nicole Chavez and Ciara O’Rourke
Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN, Texas — An investigator with the National Transporation Safety Board out of Denver will arrived to Austin on Tuesday to conduct the on-scene examination, a safety board spokesman said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the death of a STAR Flight rescuer who was killed Monday night after falling from a medical helicopter during a rescue.
FAA personnel will be gathering information at the scene and other materials related to the incident before sending them to the NTSB for their review, a safety board spokesman said. The NTSB will look at several factors such as flight history, weather conditions, and issues related to crew performance, including fatigue, training, workload and equipment design.
On Monday, STAR Flight responded about 8:25 p.m. to a rescue of a woman who had fallen in the Barton Creek Greenbelt, near the 2600 block of Barton Hills Drive. When they arrived, firefighters and paramedics decided to remove her from the Greenbelt by placing her on a hoist attached to the helicopter, officials said.
At about 9:50 p.m., rescuer Kristin McLain was helping hoist the woman into the EC-145 helicopter when McLain fell from the hoist and died, Travis County officials said.
The female patient was rescued and taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge with injuries not considered to be life-threatening, officials said.
McLain was one of three people on the helicopter when it was sent to rescue the woman. McLain was the “rescuer,” working alongside the pilot and the “hoist,” said Lisa Block, a spokeswoman for Travis County Emergency Services.
STAR Flight was not forcibly grounded on Tuesday but Block said that the operation has voluntarily taken itself out of service, meaning that no helicopter will be dispatched to emergency scenes.
McLain, 46, had worked for STAR Flight for seven years as a registered nurse, the aerial emergency medical service. She was a member of the 24-person staff that includes, paramedics, registered nurses, paramedics and technicians.
State records show that McLain has been a registered nurse in Texas since November 2008 with no disciplinary history.
She was previously licensed as a certified nurse aide and a registered nurse in Colorado, where she also did not have a disciplinary history, according to records from that state.
McLain was an athelete who enjoyed swimming biking and running, completing 14 triathlons, including an Ironman in Florida, Austin Fit Magazine reported in July.
During a tropical storm in 2010, McLain was part of a crew that rescued five people trapped by rising floodwaters, “standing on the skid of the helicopter directly in the face of the storm,” according to the magazine.
Her death is the first on-duty in the 30 years since STAR Flight has served the Austin-Travis County area, Block said.
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