Patrick J. Driscoll

Patrick J. Driscoll
Patrick J. Driscoll

A 56-year-old pilot rushed to the scene of a plane that had, on Oct. 13, 2020, crash-landed on a New Carlisle, Ohio, grass runway, overturned, and caught fire. Couple Joyce A. Seymour, 72, and Timothy J. Seymour, 73, remained inside the cockpit as flames broke out in the engine area. After seeing the crash, Patrick J. Driscoll, of Centerville, Ohio, rushed to the cockpit’s passenger side, crouched on the plane’s wing, which contained a fuel tank, and released Seymour’s seat belt, freeing her. He then helped her to a point a few feet away from the plane. Driscoll then ran to the wing at the pilot’s side as the flames intensified and spread toward the cockpit. Driscoll again crouched on a wing, released Timothy’s seat belt, and pulled Timothy, who was larger than him, from the plane as another man arrived with a fire extinguisher. The fire shortly spread to destroy the plane. Driscoll’s head was singed, but he recovered.

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The wreckage of the plane that crash-landed and caught fire on Oct. 13, 2020 in Carlisle, Ohio. Patrick J. Driscoll rushed to the cockpit and removed passenger Joyce A. Seymour and then her husband, pilot Timothy J. Seymour, despite flames spreading to the cockpit. After the couple was removed, the fire destroyed the plane. Photo courtesy of National Transportation Safety Board.