Photo courtesy STARS

By Erika Rolling

STARS Air Ambulance

Grande Prairie STARS flies farthest mission in its history

Jan 18, 2023 | 12:13 PM

On September 19, 2022, the Grande Prairie STARS helicopter made a record-breaking mission to care for a patient.

According to the STARS Air Ambulance Twitter account, the team was dispatched to Denetiah Provincial Park in British Columbia.

A crew of four; Captain Mike Allard, co-captain Mark Vansickle, flight paramedic Brent McDonald, and flight nurse David Vultaggio traveled a remarkable 1,763-kilometer return trip to Chee House, B.C. to Watson Lake, Yukon to refuel and back home to Alberta.

Grande Prairie Aviation Base Manager Thierry Breuls de Tiecken said in a release; “If you were to fly the total distance of this mission in a straight line, it is almost like flying from Calgary to Los Angeles.”

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STARS says their typical mission distance averages out to 257 kilometers. The Chee House mission took eight hours and 12 minutes to complete and became a historical moment as the farthest-flown mission in STARS’ nearly 40-year history.

“Someone needed our help, and luckily the weather allowed them to fly such a long trip to care for a patient in need.”

Breuls de Tiecken further noted; “Our goal is to provide critical care to patients anywhere, and the crew did that night.”

STARS updates the public on when and where they are flying through their Twitter account for every mission.