Relatives, co-workers cope with deaths of air ambulance crew

HARLINGEN — Gusty winds ruffled red and white roses Wednesday on the helicopter pad where pilot Robert Goss took off in the Valley AirCare helicopter for the last time just a few hours before.

“We’re still in shock,” paramedic Arnold Maldonado said as a florist delivered a bouquet of flowers Wednesday morning.

“We’re in disbelief that it happened,” he said. “We’re one big family. We’re just trying to deal with it and continue doing our job.”

Goss, nurse Michael Sanchez and paramedic Raul Garcia made up the second crew killed in an AirCare crash in 10 years.

“They were veterans — a well seasoned pilot and a well seasoned nurse and paramedic — and my friends,” said Rene Perez, the agency’s director of transport services. “They were very dedicated to what they do. They sacrificed their life to save another.”

Two months ago, Garcia, the agency’s former chief flight nurse, earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Texas-Pan American, Perez said. After graduation, he enrolled in a master’s program to become a nurse practitioner.

A native of Laredo who was married and had two boys, Garcia had worked with the agency for more than 12 years, Perez said.

“What impressed me is how he could calmly manage any emergency and make it look easy,” Perez said. “He was a very experienced clinician.”

For Sanchez, his paramedic’s job was a prize after years of hard work, Perez said. After about five years with the agency, Sanchez was engaged to be married.

“I was most impressed with Mike’s abilities, because he started off at the lower level — the (emergency medical technician) basic level,” Perez said. “He was working with schools as a bus driver, whatever he was able to do, and he worked his way up to EMT paramedic.

“He liked to fly. Whenever he had time available, he would sign up for those shifts.”

Goss started piloting the helicopter about two years ago after working as a crop duster in Illinois, Perez said. He worked seven-day shifts as an AirCare helicopter pilot during the winter before returning to his family in Illinois.

“He truly loved flying,” Perez said. “He was a great pilot — very safety oriented.”

For of love of the job

Wednesday, family members gathered to plan the funerals of the men who risked their lives to save others.

Garcia knew his job as a flight nurse came with risks, said Leon Guerra, his brother-in-law.

“He always had it in the back of his mind that it was a dangerous job, but he wanted to help people in need,” Guerra said.

While working on a master’s program, Garcia held two jobs, one at a McAllen hospital and the other at Valley AirCare, Guerra said.

“Raul was the type of person who was working two jobs to better his living, trying to be the best provider he could, but when he was home, he’d make an effort to spend his time off with his two boys,” Guerra said. “He always wanted to have the best for his family.”

For Sanchez, much of his life focused on his patients, family members said.

Relatives who heard about the paramedic’s interactions with patients said he consistently showed how much his patients mattered.

He faithfully asked how they were doing and often reassured the patients they weren’t alone, they said.

“He didn’t need to do that,” said Arnold Sanchez Jr., a first cousin.

Family members remember Sanchez as an avid fisherman and amateur photographer who loved to travel.

“That’s why he was an air medic, because he loved the sky,” Arnold Sanchez Jr. said.

Over the years, Sanchez held a variety of different jobs, which just illustrated his free spirit. He worked as a school bus driver in San Benito and a volunteer firefighter in La Feria, where he once lived.

“He’s done just about everything,” Arnold Sanchez Jr. said. “He really enjoyed the helicopter. It wasn’t a chore or obligation.”

As an EMT, Arnold Sanchez Jr. said he understood his cousin and his desire to pursue a career as a paramedic.

“You have to do it and you don’t see yourself doing anything else,” he said. “That’s how he felt — he loved doing it.”

Relatives said they would miss the 39-year-old’s smile.

“He always had a presence,” Arnold Sanchez Jr. said.

The crash brought back memories of another incident in which a Valley AirCare helicopter went down 10 years ago and killed three co-workers, said Maldonado, the paramedic.

“Some of us have been through this before when the AirCare crashed in 1998,” he said. “We know the helicopter can be replaced, but not them.

“We see the empty pad and we know someday there’ll be another helicopter, but those people won’t be there. They’re saving lives upstairs.”