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Crew remembered as 'group of heroes'

Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell said he always knew he could count on the crew of Med 12 to come to his aid, whether it was airlifting an injured motorist or searching for an escaped prisoner.

The longtime sheriff didn't personally know PHI Air Medical pilot Charles "Wayne" Kirby, nurse Jana Bishop or paramedic Stephanie Waters. The black and yellow helicopter often made stops in the rural county, but the very nature of air ambulance service prevented extended conversations.

Recognizing names and faces, Sowell said, he and other emergency responders often had just enough time for a brief exchange related to the latest tragedy to call for the public servants' response.

But that doesn't make it any easier, Sowell said.

"We're just keeping them in our thoughts and prayers," Sowell said. "They truly are a group of heroes and guardian angels. I don't know how you [pay] tribute to them except with just honor and respect. They certainly have saved many human beings."

Kirby, Bishop and Waters -- as well as David Disman, a 58-year-old patient they were ferrying from Huntsville to Houston -- were killed early Sunday when the helicopter in which they were riding crashed in Walker County. It remained unclear Tuesday what caused the crash.

Jennifer Kaiser, an air safety investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said a detailed wreckage exam was under way at a site in Lancaster, and investigators were continuing to gather information.

It could be a year before a report is presented to a five-member review board in Washington, D.C. Ultimately, that panel will be charged with reviewing the report and determining the probable cause of the crash, Kaiser said.

A memorial service honoring the trio -- Kirby, 63, of Bryan; Bishop, 29, of Magnolia; and Waters, 27, of Cedar Park -- was planned for 1 p.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church in Bryan. A procession of emergency responders leading from Coulter Field, where the PHI Air Medical crew was stationed, to the church will take place prior to the service.

Individual services for crew members were planned throughout the week.

Family members of Bishop and Waters could not be reached Tuesday. The Kirby family declined a request for interview made Tuesday by The Eagle, but in a written statement, detailed their love for the man whom they referred to as husband, father, son, friend and hero. Though they mourned his death, the family said they took comfort in knowing of Kirby's relationship with Jesus and the fact that he knew he had been placed on Earth to serve God by loving and serving people.

Family members in the statement also expressed sympathy to the family and friends of Waters, Bishop and Disman.

"Wayne knew that good deeds done without love were pointless, but those done out of love were seeds sown for eternity," according to the statement. "Wayne gave his life serving our community. Our family mourns not only his passing, but also that of his friends, his crewmates, and the patient they were trying to save. Words can not express the void Wayne's passing has left in our hearts."

PHI crew members declined to comment Tuesday, saying they weren't yet ready to speak about the tragedy that took the lives of three who had been like family to them.

Fellow members of the law enforcement and emergency medical response community also continued to grieve Tuesday. Bryan firefighters wore black and yellow ribbons, while College Station firefighters wore black bands over their badges. Both agencies were expected to participate in the processional and memorial service Wednesday.

Bryan Fire Chief Mike Donoho said though he didn't have personal relationships with the three who died, his department did. Bryan Fire Department paramedics -- like their counterparts in College Station and across the Brazos Valley -- have both professional and personal relationships with all members of the PHI team, he said. Many went to PHI's Coulter Field base on Sunday to mourn with the flight crew.

Donoho pointed to the department's emergency medical services chief, who he said is close friends with Billy Rice, a flight paramedic and medical supervisor for Air Med 12 who was in Colorado at the time of the crash. The Bryan emergency medical services chief traveled with Rice's father to personally deliver the tragic news, Donoho said.

"It just hurts," Donoho said. "It's a family. When that crew went down, everyone in emergency services was saying, 'We lost a family member.' That's all over the state of Texas."

Having PHI Air Medical stationed in Brazos County provides emergency responders across the Brazos Valley with a sense of comfort, the fire chief said, noting that the crew responds to an average of three or four calls each day. Since launching its service in 2005, the air ambulance has made a "tremendous difference in pre-hospital care within this region," Donoho said.

"A lot of folks look at these guys as the pinnacle of pre-hospital care," he said. "They are the difference between life and death for a lot of patients."

• Holly Huffman's e-mail address is holly.huffman@theeagle.com.