SEATTLE – They worked long hours, and were often called out in the middle of rainy nights under dangerous conditions.
Kevin Nortz / The Herald
The heart-wrenching sights of a sick child or critically injured patient often awaited them.
While away from their homes, they slept in cramped quarters. Their bright blue uniforms often smelled of smoke and diesel fuel.
They didn’t do it for the money or the prestige.
Medical helicopter pilot Steve Smith and flight nurses Erin Reed and Lois Suzuki served the community because of the passion God gave them to care for other people, Pastor Steve Pace said at a public memorial Thursday for the Airlift Northwest crew.
The three died Sept. 29 when their Arlington-based helicopter plunged into Browns Bay off Edmonds on a return trip from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
The body of Reed, 48, was recovered the day after the crash. The bodies of Smith, 59, and Suzuki, 47, remain missing.
The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate the crash, while Airlift Northwest has asked the U.S. Navy to recover the wreckage, which is likely in water 700 feet deep.
More than 1,000 mourners, including firefighters, paramedics and nurses from around Puget Sound, gathered inside a hangar at Boeing Field to pay tribute to the crew and offer support to their families.
Dozens of Airlift Northwest pilots and nurses ushered the families to their seats, alongside an honor guard of firefighters and police.
“Steve’s family, Erin’s family, Lois’ family, we ache with you,” said Pace, whose wife is an Airlift Northwest flight nurse.
They were very different people, but they all loved their families, their jobs and their co-workers, Pace said.
Smith, of Whidbey Island, had been a pilot with Airlift Northwest since 1988. He survived a serious helicopter crash in Baring on Jan. 20, 2002, and underwent intensive rehabilitation to return to the cockpit.
His job, however, was not his life, said Airlift Northwest pilot Fred Riebe. Smith had his priorities straight: God, his family, his friends, his country and his job, Riebe said.
“Steve lived his life with great integrity. He was my hero,” he said.
Riebe offered up his prayers Thursday – just as Smith had done when Riebe’s wife, an Airlift Northwest nurse, was killed 10 years ago in a helicopter crash.
“A leader helps someone become better than they are. I am, and I’m sure others are, much better for having known Steve,” Riebe said.
Reed’s co-workers said they became better nurses and people because of her.
Reed, of Seattle, had wanted to become a doctor, but after she was seriously burned and spent months recovering in a hospital, she decided to go into emergency medical service.
She wanted to be there to comfort people on the worst day of their lives, said fellow flight nurse Sandy Koopman-Bryant.
Reed loved sushi, the arts and power tools. Her idea of a good day of shopping was a trip to Sears, Home Depot and the lumberyard.
She was dedicated to her patients, willing to go toe-to-toe with any doctor, medic or nurse if she thought it meant better care for her patients.
She was known as a nurse who always had a handle on things, Koopman-Bryant said.
“If a flight was going badly and your (backsides) were up against the gates of hell, you’d look over and be thankful Erin was your partner,” she said.
Suzuki, of Seattle, loved traveling and made friends wherever she went. She volunteered in Latin America, teaching nurses there.
She was a great listener, fellow flight nurse Liza De Guzman said.
She had a “9-foot smile on a 4-foot frame,” said Dr. Michael Copass, Airlift Northwest’s president and medical director.
She had an explosive laugh that rang through the halls.
“We’ll never forget her laughter,” De Guzman said.
Their legacy will continue in the work of their colleagues and the memories held by their families, the speaker said.
“We will remember them while waiting at a landing zone, while waiting with a critical patient,” said Tom Gudmestad, Medical Service Officer for King County Medic 1.
“We’ll remember them when we hear the rotor blades passing overhead … airlift on the way.”
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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