STAR Flight: Air ambulance operations to resume Wednesday

May 05--4:55 p.m. update: Emergency medical flights will resume Wednesday at 7 a.m., but search and rescue operations will remain on hold, said STAR Flight program director Casey Ping at a news conference Tuesday.

Assisting flights by firefighters and law enforcement also will remain on hold, Ping said.

STAR Flight suspended its operations last week after flight nurse Kristin McLain fell during a hoist rescue over the Barton Creek Greenbelt. A preliminary federal report released Tuesday said the nurse and her patient were in a "steady spin" before she fell.

Ping has said the incident had been a strong blow for his team's morale.

"They're getting better," he said Tuesday. "It is difficult but at the same time they are ready to start moving forward."

Ping ended the news conference by thanking the community for the outpouring of support during a memorial service for McLain on Friday.

Earlier: The STAR Flight helicopter hoist carrying nurse Kristin McLain was in a "steady spin" before she fell, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board investigators.

The report, which is subject to change, is part of an NTSB investigation into the April 27 incident in which McLain was killed during a hoist rescue over the Barton Creek Greenbelt. The pilot and the paramedic who operated the hoist were not injured.

On the night of the rescue operation, McLain, the pilot and hoist operator "gathered the required equipment and before departure and en route, completed the normal equipment checks," the report said.

According to the report:

Shortly after arriving at the patient's location, the flight nurse and her medical equipment were hoisted to the ground. The helicopter later deployed a backboard for the patient. After the flight nurse had secured the patient in the rescue carrier, she radioed the helicopter and reported ready for extraction; the helicopter moved into position and extended the hook to her. After giving the signal, the hoist operator initiated the lift to the helicopter.

Once the flight nurse and patient cleared the trees, they began a steady spin. To arrest the spin, the pilot started moving the helicopter forward. The hoist operator stated that the spin had almost stopped, and he noticed that the flight nurse was riding in a position lower than normal. The flight nurse then fell from the line.

The helicopter's video and voice recorder system as well as its hoist camera, were shipped to the NTSB's labs in Washington, D.C., for review.

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