NY Baker Rescues Local Couple From Plane Crash
TAUNTON (CBS) - The bravery of a Brooklyn man may have saved the lives of a Massachusetts couple. The pair had just taken off from Long Island, heading back to Taunton, when their small plane went down.
A witness who saw it all happen jumped in to help.
Craig Schum was working in a Wainscott bakery about a mile from the East Hampton Airport Sunday evening, when he heard the plane crash.
"An enormous crash. Imagine what it takes for a plane to take down 40 trees or whatever," Schum told CBS 2 in New York. "Without really thinking about it…I was just running towards this airplane that's on fire."
Schum said he ran barefoot and hopped fences to get to the crash scene, where he found the male pilot and the female passenger injured and dazed.
"I thought she was dead. She's covered in blood," says Schum. "The pilot was conscious, covered in blood, walking in circles, didn't really know where he was…she was on the ground with her legs still stuck in the plane."
Schum said he was just hoping to keep both victims alive until emergency officials arrived.
"I grabbed her and ran towards the street," says Schum. "Trying to will her back to life and then she started moving her head and we knew she was alive."
The two are now recovering from injuries at Stony Brook Medical Center.
The pilot, Steven Bochter of Swansea, spoke to CBS 2 from his hospital bed on Monday.
"I was dazed, everything was on fire. Kim was unconscious. The guy came out of nowhere to save us. We are blessed to have lived through all that. Thanks to all those heroes," Bochter said.
The two plane crash survivors said they hope to meet the good Samaritans who helped save their lives once they've recovered.
