‘Called to save lives’

Published 9:00 pm Friday, September 30, 2005

EDMONDS – Steve Smith was dedicated to saving lives.

The Whidbey Island man rushed to the aid of critically injured and ill patients for nearly two decades as a helicopter pilot for Airlift Northwest, a Seattle-based medical airlift service.

“He really believed he was called to an eternal purpose in his job,” said Smith’s brother-in-law, Chris Canlis. “He had a servant’s heart. That’s what kept him flying.”

Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald Helicopter pilot Steve Smith checks the tail rotor on his helicopter before he takes off on a flight for Airlift Northwest in October 2003. Smith died in a helicopter crash on Thursday.

Smith, 59, and two flight nurses, Erin Reed and Lois Suzuki, both of Seattle, were killed Thursday night when their Arlington-based medical helicopter crashed into Browns Bay about a mile from Edmonds.

The helicopter crew had picked up a patient with a severe head injury at Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington on Thursday.

The patient “was not doing well, and we felt (the patient) should go to Harborview” in Seattle, said Clark Jones, the hospital’s chief executive.

Smith wanted to serve his community, Canlis said. That’s what he was doing Thursday night, he added.

Smith had been a pilot with Airlift Northwest since 1988. He was well known by Snohomish County firefighters and police officers, who often called on Smith and the other crews out of Arlington after serious car wrecks or other medical emergencies.

“He wound up being called to save lives under some of the most extreme conditions,” Snohomish County sheriff’s Sgt. Danny Wickstrom said.

Gold Bar Fire Chief Eric Andrews recalled that Smith had been to the station to help firefighters created a safe landing pad for helicopters. Gold Bar and other rural fire departments frequently call for airlifts because of their distance from hospitals.

A woman seriously injured Friday morning north of Snohomish was taken by ambulance instead of airlifted because there wasn’t a helicopter available, according to the Washington State Patrol.

“It’s a big loss,” Andrews said of the deaths. “Our heart goes out to their families.”

Smith, the father of three daughters and a son, was dedicated to his wife, Norma, friends and family said.

“They were very supportive of each other,” said family friend Chris Strow, a state representative for the 10th District.

He was a devout Christian who opened his home every week for a youth Bible study group, Strow said.

“He was absolutely humble,” Strow said.

Smith learned to fly in the Marine Corps and survived his helicopter being shot down during the Vietnam War.

He also fought back from life-threatening injuries when his helicopter plummeted to the ground in 2003 near Baring in eastern Snohomish County. The crash tore an artery near his heart and broke numerous bones.

He was determined to return to help others.

“He loved to fly, and he was darn good at it,” Canlis said.

It’s too early to say what caused Thursday night’s crash, said Georgia Struhsaker, a senior air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board.

Investigators will be looking at the weather, which was rainy and windy. They also will research maintenance records, and hope to gain more insight once the aircraft is recovered.

The helicopter, a twin-engine Augusta A109, didn’t have a voice-recording device, Struhsaker said. There also isn’t any record of a distress call from the crew, she said.

Smith and the nurses were headed back to Arlington when dispatchers lost contact with the crew shortly after 9 p.m. About 15 minutes later, several Edmonds residents reported hearing a low-flying helicopter and a crash.

Police and the U.S. Coast Guard launched a massive search for the crew and aircraft, which was last detected on radar in the same area reported by residents.

About 1 a.m. Friday, a Coast Guard crew located a debris field about a half-mile long and quarter-mile wide. One body was recovered, while two others remained missing Friday afternoon, Struhsaker said.

The U.S. Coast Guard, using side-scan sonar, continued Friday to search for the missing crew members and the wreckage, which could be in up to 400 feet of water.

Small pieces of the helicopter were pulled up Friday, and officials urged anyone who found pieces believed to be related to the crash to call 911.

“Right now, recovery of the wreck is our biggest hurdle,” Struhsaker said.

Reporter Sharon Salyer contributed to this story.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.