Rookie pilot pulls man from burning car
A student Army pilot who risked her life to pull a man out from a burning vehicle says she has no doubt she would do it again.
Oakey cadet Ingrid Dylan was out on her final training mission on Thursday night when she and her instructor spotted a fire.
The duo orbited back to the scene near Blackbutt, north of Toowoomba, where she saw a man trapped inside the car through her night vision goggles.
Once grounded, Cdt Dylan ran through the bush on foot, got the man out and dragged him across the road before the car exploded in flames.
“It was definitely instinct when you see someone needing assistance, you jump in and do the best you can,” the 29-year-old said.
Sadly the man, an 85-year-old, suffered third degree burns to half his body and could not be saved.
Cdt Dylan’s captain Warren Wilton says everyone involved did a fantastic job to try and save the elderly victim.
“I didn’t get her name, she’s done really well,” David Jones, from Blackbutt Fire and Rescue, said.
The rescue unfolded in front of a second army kiowa hovering above. All pilots involved were back on base on Friday amid talk of bravery awards.
But the crew says it’s all in the line of duty.
“I know any of my course mates on that navigation route would’ve done the same thing,” Cdt Dylan said.
The trainee pilots face their final tests this week before graduation.
