Scene over the Sound: Airlift Northwest

Story and photos by Jan Hansen

Airlift Northwest, a program of the University of Washington School of Medicine and Harborview Medical Center, provides flight transport via helicopter and fixed wing aircraft for patients needing intensive medical care in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.

Wikimedia has a history of the service:

Airlift Northwest was founded in 1982 after three children perished following a Sitka, Alaska, house fire because there was no way to rapidly transport them to a facility capable of treating their injuries. 

The University of Washington's Dr. Michael Copass was the driving force behind the service which started with one Seattle-based fixed wing aircraft and a medical crew of one physician and one nurse.[2] 

It was the first critical care air ambulance service in the region.

Since 1982, Airlift Northwest has had four incidents:

1. One of the organization's helicopters crashed into Puget Sound on September 11, 1995, while en route to Bainbridge Island to pick up a woman in labor. Two nurses and one pilot were killed in the incident.
2. The pilot and sole occupant of an Airlift Northwest helicopter sustained serious injuries in a crash near Granite Falls in 2002.
3. In 2005, another Airlift Northwest helicopter crashed into the waters off of Edmonds on the evening of September 28; all occupants (a pilot and two nurses) were killed.
4. On October 28, 2005, an Airlift Northwest helicopter crashed during takeoff from the rooftop helipad of Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, Washington. One flight nurse received minor injuries.

Airlift Northwest crews played key roles in the response to the 2014 Oso mudslide, transporting 5 injured survivors to area hospitals