(NECN: Ally Donnelly, Provincetown, MA) – This afternoon, we’re hearing from the coast-guard pilot who witnessed the deadly plane crash in Provincetown, MA.
He and his crew rushed to the rescue.
The plane went down last night. The pilot was killed, and the passenger survived.
It was just before 11 Wednesday night when Coast Guard Lt Commander Chris Wright and his crew spotted the private plane take off from Provincetown Airport and bank left.
"It appeared to hit the tree line and go into the brush," said Wright.
The four-man crew out of Air Station Cape Cod was on a gunnery training mission, but quickly shifted gears -- and their Jay Hawk -- into search and rescue mode.
"The fire was so bright, you couldn't tell if anyone was alive," said Petty Officer Scott Higgins.
The chopper couldn't land at the crash site, about 200 yards into the woods so they set down on the airport runway. Flight mechanic Higgins grabbed a flashlight, fire extinguisher and radio and took off through the dense trees on foot.
"You could hear crackle of fire, smell the smoke," he said. "I yelled out, can anyone hear me? Are you okay?"
After a second explosion rocked the forest, Higgins and arriving emergency workers found 47-year-old Tamar Levy of Falmouth ejected, sprawled just beyond the growing flames.
"I was surprised someone could survive something like that," he said. Wright added, "she was conscious, not coherent or responsive with third degree burns on her body."
The crew called for a MedFlight, but it couldn't land in the woods and taking Levy out by foot could hurt the seriously injured woman more. The Coast Guard -- desperately low on fuel -- would have to hoist her to safety.
"Halfway up, the pilot told me we're done, we're outta here," said Flight Mechanic Alex Delgado.
But Delgado could not give up and desperately helped hoist the rescue basket by hand to get Levy to safety. "I told her to just blink her eyes if she could hear me," he said.
A blinking Levy was MedFlighted to Boston where she is in serious condition. The Coast Guard crew invaluable in saving her. Unfortunately, the men could do nothing to help her boyfriend of just a few weeks, 48-year-old Stanley Wisniewski.
The pilot, who is also from Falmouth, died in the crash.
Family friend Beth Comeau said Wisniewski texted her hours before the crash and told her he was the happiest he had ever been.
"It's devastating. You can't replace someone like Stanley. It will never be the same," Comeau said.
The Massachusetts State Police and the FAA are investigating the cause of the crash.
Comeau called Wisniewski an experienced pilot who wouldn't take chances with safety.
Source: http://www.necn.com
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