Friends mourn as inquiry continues

Memories of perpetual smiles and admiration of dedication mingled with tears of mourning Monday for those who knew the three Air Evac Lifeteam workers who died in Sunday's fatal crash in Colbert County.

Meanwhile, investigators dragged the wreckage from the deep woods of the Freedom Hills Wildlife Management area, where the team was responding to a search for a lost hunter. The helicopter crashed as it was apparently trying to hover while centering a spotlight over the hunter to help rescue workers find him.

Michael Baker, 41, Allan Bragwell, 40, and Tiffany Miles, 29, were killed.

"Losing one is hard. Losing three is horrible," said Rebecca Carson, a nurse at Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield. Officials at the hospital conducted a memorial service Monday afternoon at the helicopter landing pad outside the hospital.

"It's from this spot we're standing on that heroes from air rescue rise to meet the challenges of every day," Dr. Bill Reid said during the service. "They met that challenge (Sunday) and never returned to us."

Hundreds of tearful Keller employees, as well as other emergency personnel, encircled the white pad, which has a red "H" at the center.

Many wore black and gold ribbons. The black symbolizes mourning, while the gold symbolizes emergency medical personnel.

"These are special heroes, Lord," Reid said. "We thank you for them, and we honor them for their lives."

Robert Gretz, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board, said information from witness interviews and initial investigations are consistent with assumptions that the helicopter either was hovering or in a slow forward flight and spinning to the right while descending.

The engine was severely burned but intact and has been taken to a Rolls-Royce recovery area in Indiana, where it will be inspected, said Gretz, who is the senior air safety investigator for the safety board's Northeast Regional Office in Parsippany, N.J. Rolls-Royce is the engine's manufacturer.

The helicopter wreckage was taken to a recovery area in Atlanta, where it also will be examined, Gretz said.

He said the majority of the wreckage had been consumed by fire, and most was confined to one area of the crash site, which was about a mile off Mount Mills Road in southwestern Colbert County.

He said a preliminary report on the crash will be posted on the safety board's Web site, ntsb.gov, likely Jan. 9.

"That will tell what happened and when," he said. "There will not be an answer why until the safety board's report."

That could take six months to a year, he said.

Friends and relatives of the trio still were trying to get an emotional grasp on the situation Monday.

"Michael, Tiffany and Allan were wonderful individuals and we are deeply saddened by their deaths," Air Evac area manager David Gardner said. "The Muscle Shoals crew is one big family and we appreciate everyone's prayers and thoughts during this difficult time."

Gal Hudson is an Air Evac employee and former Keller emergency room nurse who worked with Miles at both occupations.

"Tiffany was a great nurse," Hudson said. "She was always happy, never said anything bad about anybody and was a great momma. She loved her two children more than anything and loved what she did."

Marlena Strickland often was one of Bragwell's partners on flights. She said Air Evac workers realize they have a dangerous job.

"We all thought about it whenever we went on a call, but Allan always had our backs," Strickland said. "I always felt safe when I went out with him.

"He was a great person who watched out for all of us. He was the glue that stuck us all together and was just a big cut-up who loved having fun, but when it came to a call, he was always serious."

Carson said Miles was extremely compassionate and full of love. "All three of these people were well thought of and I never saw any of them without a smile on their face," she said.

Miles lived in Florence with her husband and two sons.

"She was such a caring individual and she just wanted to serve others," Gardner said. "She was embraced by everybody, from her colleagues to people in the community. She is irreplaceable."

Air Evac clinical educator Noah Banister said Miles was always "on top of her game" and cared for everyone.

Bragwell lived in Florence with his wife and four children.

Gardner said other paramedics looked up to him. He was the interim ambulance director of the Keller Ambulance Service.

"If you had Allan as a partner, you knew it was going to be a good day," Gardner said. "His skill level was that good. And as a person, he always had a positive attitude."

"He was a rock," Banister said. "Allan was a devoted, hard worker and loved helping people. He was the friend that would stick with you no matter what."

Baker came to Air Evac in March after a career with the U.S. Coast Guard.

The pilot's sister, Beth Baker, of Washington, said he was a "kind and caring" person who always tried to help people. She said she and her four siblings moved frequently as a result of their father being a test pilot in the U.S. Navy.

She said her brother has always been interested in flying. Michael Baker graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard and was recently promoted to lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard Reserves.

"In an odd kind of way, I guess it's better that he died doing his job, not by a drunk driver," Baker said. "He did his job and did it well; he found the hunter."

She said her brother was cited for his heroics recently during a rescue in Michigan where he found a downed airplane before it sank in a lake.

She said he often volunteered at senior centers and arranged for Santa to visit an orphanage at Christmas.

"He was the type person you just wish there were more of," Elizabeth Butler said.

"He was smart and by far the funniest of the five children. He was very sharp and had a quick wit.

"He was six years older than me and he took care of me his whole life. He was just a great person."

Baker's brother, Steven Baker, said Michael Baker was the one everybody in the family was able to count on at any time.

"He was the glue that held our family together," said Steven Baker, who lives in Boise, Idaho.

Michael Baker moved to the Shoals in the past year from Traverse City, Mich., where he had worked with the Coast Guard.

"He lived like a hero," Steven Baker said. "He was helping people when the accident happened.

"My heart goes out to the families of the other two people involved in the crash, as well."

Michael Baker was in the Coast Guard Reserves and recently was promoted to lieutenant colonel, his brother said.

Michael Baker spent Christmas with Steven Baker and members of Steven Baker's fiancee's family, who live in Nashville, Tenn.

Steven Baker got to see his brother in an Air-Evac helicopter during their visit, an experience that made him even more proud of his big brother.

"I'm so glad he was able to show his little brother the helicopter, and I remember looking at this guy in the pilot seat and just thinking about how this was the same guy I grew up with, rode bikes with - this same guy is my big brother," Steven Baker said.

The brothers had Christmas dinner together. Since Michael Baker had been working, he wore his Air-Evac uniform. "He asked me if he should change from the Air-Evac uniform for dinner, but I said no, so he sat at the table wearing an Air-Evac jumpsuit."

Sharon and Shawn Geraghty, of Traverse City, were close friends with Baker and remember him as a giving person.

"He was there to do for others all the time," Sharon Geraghty said. "To lose somebody like that is just a big tragedy.

"He frequently visited the senior center here and had made friends with the residents. He was constantly there for his friends, lending a hand and doing what was needed."

Bernie Delinski can be reached at 740-5739 or bernie.delinski@timesdaily.com.