Our heroes: One brave moment can change a person forever • Temco D-16A, N124N, accident occurred October 05, 2009 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Paul Ansolabehere, right, and Robert Schmidt describe the flight path of a small plane that crashed in this spot in Schmidt's former backyard in Minnetonka in Oct. 2009. Ansolabehere and Schmidt were both awarded the Carnegie Medal for climbing on the burning plane, smashing out the canopy and rescuing pilot Robert Fiske, saving his life.

 (Pioneer Press: Ben Garvin)

"Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look." -- Ronald Reagan 

  
On June 9, 1961, Larry Hoppe was a 17-year-old working a summer job, perched on a ladder on a side of a building in Winnebago, Minn. He heard a horn repeatedly blowing from the nearby train tracks.

"The train was really sounding loud," Hoppe recalls. "Something was wrong."

He jumped off the ladder and snatched a 5-year-old boy out of the path of a freight train.

Afterward, "I just got up and went back to work. I climbed back up the ladder and worked the rest of the day."

On Oct. 5, 2009, business executive Paul Ansolabehere was driving to a lunchtime workout when a small plane crashed in Eden Prairie.

Ansolabehere, who was 45 at the time, rushed to the crash site and helped pull the pilot out of the burning plane.

Ansolabehere gave a statement to police and got some treatment for his cut hands. Then he went to the gym and did his workout.

'A TEST FROM GOD'

Hoppe and Ansolabehere are among the 98 Minnesotans who over the past 110 years have won the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission medal, a national award for civilians who have risked their lives to save another life.

Few of us really know how we'd react in such a life-and-death situation, what one rescuer called "a test from God.

Read more here:  http://www.twincities.com

http://registry.faa.gov/N124N

NTSB Identification: CEN10LA004
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, October 05, 2009 in Eden Prairie, MN
Probable Cause Approval Date: 07/15/2010
Aircraft: Temco D-16A, registration: N124N
Injuries: 1 Serious.

NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The airplane had just undergone its annual maintenance inspection. The pilot reported that he was in cruise flight in the twin-engine airplane about 600 feet above ground level when the left engine stopped producing power. He completed the shutdown checklist for the left engine and feathered the propeller. He applied full power to the right engine, but the airplane continued to lose altitude. He executed a forced landing to a large wooded area away from houses. Numerous witnesses reported that they heard and/or saw the airplane as it flew overhead at a low altitude. All reported hearing a loud engine noise without any sputtering. One witness reported that the left propeller was not turning. The inspection of the airplane revealed that the electric fuel pump found in the left engine nacelle exhibited blue staining on the top surface of the pump. The blue staining was consistent with a fuel leak. The test of the electric fuel pump revealed that the end cap gasket had failed, which allowed air to be drawn into the system by both the electric and engine-driven fuel pumps, thus starving the engine of fuel.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
A total loss of left engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the failure of the engine's electric fuel pump end cap gasket, which allowed air to be drawn into the fuel system.

http://www.ntsb.gov

"I can't pick a better guy to come and land his plane in my backyard" --Robert Schmidt. 

~

January 19, 2010:   EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (WCCO) ― If you'd never heard the story about how Bob and Bob met, you would think they have been friends forever. In October, Bob Fiske had to crash-land his plane when one of his engines started to fail. He chose Bob Schmidt's Eden Prairie backyard because it was full of trees. "You can't pick your friend. I can't pick a better guy to come and land his plane in my backyard," said Schmidt. Once his plane hit the ground, the backside burst into flames. When Schmidt heard the crash, he came running outside. "There I was, face to face with this guy beating on my airplane," Fiske said.

On Tuesday night, the two men joked about that day. They'd met for the second time because Schmidt, along with four others, was being honored with the Eden Prairie Police Department's Award of Valor. "I told him please get me out of here, that's exactly what I said, please get me out of here -- then some expletives," said Fiske. The others honorees were two neighbors who brought down fire extinguishers to try to break the windows, a driver who helped pull Fiske from the plane, the mailman who helped carry Fiske up the hill. Fiske was left with a cracked eye socket, some cracked ribs, a cracked spine and a very happy family. His wife, daughters and granddaughters showed up the ceremony to meet Schmidt and thank him.

Fiske considers Schmidt his angel, while Schmidt considers Fiske his friend. "I look forward to continued relationship," Fiske said. "I'll take him flying someday." Schmidt said yes, but then thought about it for a moment and laughed, "well … ok."  By WCCO