Four, including infant patient, killed in medical helicopter crash

Friday, March 10th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DALHART, Texas (AP) -- A medical evacuation helicopter traveling to an Amarillo hospital crashed today, killing all four people aboard, including an infant girl, authorities said.

The Lifestar helicopter was returning from picking up a 4-month-old female patient near Boise City, Okla., when it crashed some time after 6 a.m., said Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Mike Cox.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the wreckage was found about 20 miles north of Dalhart, a town about 70 miles north of Amarillo.

The wreckage was found at 10:45 a.m., Cox said.

The twin-engine helicopter was dispatched from Northwest Texas Health Care System, said Moody Chisholm, chief executive of the hospital.

The four people aboard included the patient, the pilot and two crew members, Chisholm said.

Chisholm said Lauren Stone, a 30-year-old flight nurse, and Terry Griffith, a 35-year-old flight paramedic, were killed in the crash.

Stone had been an employee of the hospital for five years. Griffith had been with the hospital for seven years, he said.

The names of the pilot and patient have not been released.

Because of fog in the Boise City area, a ground ambulance met the helicopter 14 miles south of town, and the craft took off at 6:05 a.m., Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Mike Cox said.

The crew was not heard from after that.

The patient's parents left the Boise City area in a car about the same time the helicopter took off, said Chisholm.

"The parents did not know (the helicopter) was missing until they arrived here," he said.

Doug Wigington, National Transportation Safety Board air safety investigator in Arlington, said investigators were en route to the crash scene.

"We don't know whether he hit power lines or had a mechanical failure," Wigington said. "We are also looking to see if weather might be a possible cause." "We're doing everything thing right now to gather background information on pilot and flight crew."

Chisholm said it's the first Lifestar accident in Northwest Texas Healthcare System's history. The hospital has had Lifestar helicopter service since 1993, he said.