What happened
On April 27, 2015, at approximately 21:50 central daylight time, a fatal accident occurred during a night rescue operation in the Barton Creek Greenbelt near Austin, Texas. A MBB BK 117 C-2 helicopter, registration N392TC, operated by STAR Flight, was dispatched to assist an injured hiker located in difficult, steep terrain.
After arriving at the scene, the crew deployed a rescue specialist and medical equipment to the ground via the helicopter's hoist. While the specialist prepared the patient for extraction, the pilot and hoist operator identified a nearby running track to serve as a landing zone. Once the patient was secured in a Bauman bag, the rescuer signaled that they were ready for extraction.
The hoist operator initiated the lift, bringing the rescuer and the patient upward. During the ascent, the pair made contact with tree branches, causing the patient and rescuer to begin spinning. To stabilize the load, the pilot transitioned the helicopter into forward flight. As the spin slowed and the rescuer and patient reached approximately 10 feet below the helicopter's skids, the rescuer fell from the hoist assembly, falling roughly 100 feet to the ground.
The investigation
Investigators examined the rescuer's Tac-Air vest, including the insertion/extraction loops, belt buckles, and leg straps, but found no evidence of failure or suspicious marks. The rescue hardware, including the HRV (Helicopter-Rescuer-Victim) system and the Tri-link, was inspected under high-power microscopy and showed no abnormalities or witness marks indicating a malfunction.
The hoist system, including the D-LOK rescue hook and the cable, was inspected by the operator, the NTSB, the FAA, and a technical representative from Airbus Helicopters, Inc., with no abnormalities found. Review of the cockpit video and the hoist camera footage did not reveal any equipment failures or provide specific details regarding how the rescuer was initially attached to the hook.