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PAM EASTON
Associated Press Writer

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) -- Bouquets of flowers line the Northwest Texas Hospital hallway in which a framed protrait of a blue LifeStar medical helicopter is hanging.

The aircraft carrying a 4-month-old Oklahoma girl with breathing problems and three crew members crashed Friday shortly after taking off in fog, killing everyone on board.

``We have absolutely saved hundreds and hundreds of lives with this helicopter,'' Moody Chisholm, the hospital system's chief executive officer, said Friday.

``We are still in a lot of pain that we have lost this crew and patient. If we can get past this, it still is a service that is needed out here.''

The helicopter went down about three miles from the Texas-Oklahoma border in an area where cattle grazing the grasslands are the only break in the scenery.

The crash occurred close to the spot where an ambulance from a rural hospital in Boise City, Okla., had transferred Kathy Esparza into the care of the helicopter's crew.

After the baby was put aboard, the helicopter took off in fog around 6 a.m., and the crew was not heard from again, said Department of Public Safety Sgt. James R. Woodrum. When the fog lifted nearly five hours later, the wreckage was discovered less than a mile away. Debris was scattered over an area about 400 feet by 100 feet.

``It looks like it either exploded or started burning immediately on impact. It looks like they impacted on their nose and nobody knows why,'' Woodrum said.

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive today.

``We don't know whether he hit power lines or had a mechanical failure,'' said NTSB spokesman Doug Wigington. ``We are also looking to see if weather might be a possible cause.''

Chisholm said Lauren Stone, a 30-year old flight nurse, and Terry Griffith, a 35 year-old flight paramedic, were killed in the crash. The identity of the pilot wasn't released.

``I know he's a very conservative pilot who has hundreds of hours of flight time and hundreds of miles logged,'' Chisholm said. ``He wouldn't have done anything to put his crew or the patient in jeopardy.''

The transfer and the crash occurred near the community of Coldwater, Texas, which is less than 20 miles from Boise City. The helicopter was following the power lines along the roadway, a common route, officials said.

Kathy's mother, who was driving to the hospital, didn't learn of the crash until she arrived in Amarillo, Chisholm said. Parents typically do not ride in the helicopter.

The craft had no history of accident or safety problems, said John Clabes, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman. It was leased to the hospital by TEMSCO Helicopters Inc. of Ketchikan, Alaska.

The crash was the second fatal medical helicopter accident in Texas within a year. Three crew members died in July when a helicopter based at Hermann Hospital in Houston crashed outside the city.

Related

• Northwest Texas Hospital