Travis County, TX – STAR Flight Nurse Kristin McLain honored posthumously with hangar dedication.
When Tropical Storm Hermine sent torrential downpours and gusting winds whipping through Central Texas in September 2010, three Travis County STAR Flight crew members flew through the night.
The team, made up of Chuck Spangler, Mike Summers and Kristin McLain, lifted people from sunken cars and flooded homes. They rescued a total of 13 people, even pulling a man stuck in a tree to safety.
“That was the worst weather and flight conditions I’d ever been in,” said Spangler, who is now the STAR Flight program director.
“That night will never leave our memories.”
Spangler recalled that night during a dedication ceremony Wednesday to rename STAR Flight’s hangar in East Austin after McLain. After countless flights over Travis County, McLain fell about 100 feet to her death during a rescue in the Barton Creek Greenbelt on April 27, 2015. Hers was STAR Flight’s first on-duty death in 30 years of operation.
Dozens of people attended the building dedication, including McLain’s parents Betty and Jerry, and her sister Stacey Dyer, who said the dedication was a huge honor.
McLain and Spangler were neighbors, co-workers, and often described as brother and sister. Spangler was McLain’s first pilot when she joined STAR Flight in 2008, and he spoke first in front of the hangar, now dubbed the Kristin E. McLain Building.
“We’re thrilled to be able to honor her today so that her … her memory,” he started. Spangler took a step backwards, threw his arms out wide and looked down at his notes behind a podium.
He wiped a tear away and looked up at an overcast sky, just as the sun peeked through, before finishing, ”… will forever be stamped into the history of Travis County and STAR Flight.”
McLain was born in Colorado Springs in 1969. During her time in Travis County, she worked as a helicopter rescue specialist, crew chief and a flight nurse, county officials said. Betty McLain said her daughter would often call home to Colorado after a difficult day at work, but always managed to move forward.
County officials said she became deeply embedded in the STAR Flight program, training crew members and specialty teams, and investing in clinical education and hiring.
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