On the way home from his job at a cake shop on one August evening, Craig Schum stopped his car at the East Hampton Airport for a break. He got out of the car and kicked off his shoes to relax.
Within seconds, though, Schum saw something shocking: A small plane dived and crashed into the woods at about 100 yards from the run-way. "I don't remember making the decision that I should go help out," he says. "I just started running. " Schum rushed across the street barefoot before taking off his apron(围裙). Then he climbed over a six-foot-high fence and ran toward the woods.
When he got there, he discovered the pilot, Stephen Bochter-his head was covered in blood-beside the burning plane. Brochter's only passenger, his wife, Kim Brillo, was on the ground, unable to move. "She had blood all over her," says Schum. "I thought she was dead. "
Without a second thought, Schum struggled to lift the fence and brought Brochter and Brillo out from under it. There was only one thought in Schum's mind that he must bring the couple to safety as quickly as possible. Moments later, the entire plane exploded(爆炸). After the ambulance arrived, Bochter and Brillo were taken to a nearby hospital and treated for injuries.
Brochter, an experienced pilot, later said that the plane's electrical system had failed shortly after take-off. He had been trying to land at the East Hampton Airport when the plane began to fall. He managed to level the wings before crashing into the woods. "Everything was on fire, and Schum came out of nowhere to save us," says Bochter. "We are extremely lucky to have lived through it because of him. "