STARS BK117 helicopter touches down in Lethbridge for final visit

One of STARS Air Ambulance's eight BK117 helicopters touched down in Lethbridge for the last time on Wednesday.

LETHBRIDGE — STARS Air Amlulance’s fleet of BK117 helicopters have been an integral part of their life-saving missions since 1985. One of them touched down in Lethbridge for its farewell visit on Wednesday.

Now that the new AH145 model helicopters are operational, STARS’s eight BK117s will slowly be retired from service.

The aircraft in Lethbridge on Thursday has seen its fair share of VIPs over the years — very important patients — including their first: Kelly Waldron, who was picked up Dec. 1, 1985, according to chief operating officer Mike Lamacchia.

“She was a premature baby and we transported her in,” he said. “To signify the importance of her, our call signs on our new aircraft is KLY to represent Kelly.”

Replacing old fleet

Since that time, the BK117 has aged quite a bit and requires replacement, according to Lamacchia. He said STARS is currently in the process of replacing their old fleet with nine new helicopters, the cost of each is about $13 million.

Five of those will be dedicated solely to Alberta, and the AH145s come with advanced technology.

“Autopilot, a lot of terrain warning systems for our pilots. Less fatigue with flying the aircraft and a lot of safety features so our pilots enjoy it. It’s got an advanced medical interior that our air medical crew love and enjoy working in,” Lamacchia said.

Lethbridge is the busiest site in Alberta for STARS, as they frequent the area about once a week. The new helicopters will fly out of Calgary, as they currently do. Lamacchia said a trip to Lethbridge takes about 50 minutes.

That’s more of the business side of things, but it’s the personal stories of STARS rescue missions that mean the most to supporters and donors.

Like that of Chelsie Bullock, who was seriously injured when she was T-boned while driving down a southern Alberta backroad in 2007.

A STARS Air Ambulance took her from Lethbridge to Foothills hospital in Calgary, where she eventually made a full recovery.

Bullock told the crowd how much STARS has meant to her, and her family.

“I wish I could give them millions of dollars, but I can’t, but this is my way of helping. By sharing my story and helping people know how it impacts their lives. and how it impacted my life. and how it can impact other people’s lives,” Bullock said.

Her mother, Alyson Scoville, had faith that STARS personnel were going to take care of her daughter.

“I could see that they were very competent people and they knew what they were doing and they were going to take care of our precious daughter and they did just that,” she said.

“Without them, I don’t know that she would be here today had they not been able to get her to where she needed to be in that amount of time.”