A former paramedic successfully rescued three people from the wreckage of a deadly plane crash on a freeway in Naples, Florida.
“I didn’t immediately realize it was a very low-flying aircraft that I had seen just seconds before,” said Sheri Rapisarda, a retired Collier County EMT. told Fox 4 Now.
“We knew the plane could explode, so we just wanted to get them in the car and get them out of the area as quickly as possible,” Rapisarda explained. “I relied on my training and my instincts to make a move in the moment and it clicked in the moment. It really happened. I just acted. I don’t remember thinking anything in particular. I just acted. ”
The Bombardier Challenger 600 business jet carrying five people took off from Ohio State University around 1 p.m. ET on Friday, but suffered a rare twin-engine failure and crashed on the interstate just after 3 p.m. ET. It crashed on Route 75.
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Sheri Rapisarda saved people from a plane crash in Naples, Florida. (WFTX)
Audio released after the crash shows one of the pilots attempting to make an emergency landing after stressing that both engines had failed and the plane would not reach the Naples airport runway. According to the Naples Daily News, the plane plummeted 1,800 feet in its final moments of descent.
The plane collided with an SUV and a truck during landing, but the driver and passenger of the vehicle survived.
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The plane burst into flames after it crashed on an interstate in Naples, Florida, on Friday. (@jobarobinson/Local NewsX/TMX)
The pilot and co-pilot, Edward Daniel Murphy, 50, and Ian Frederick Hoffman, 65, died in the accident. Crewmember Sydney Ann Bosmans, 23, and passengers Aaron Baker, 35, and Audra Green, 23, survived thanks to Rapisarda’s quick thinking and hard work.
No one was killed on the ground. The survivors were taken to a local hospital after the crash, but their condition is unknown.
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Rapisarda praised the pilots and bossmen as true heroes who ensured the survival of the passengers.
“I just happened to be driving by and I was able to get that little bit of composure that I needed after everyone got out of their cars and just be that little voice of reason that says, ‘Hey, come to me.’ she explained.
As a result of the accident, all lanes of the highway were closed in both directions. The Florida Highway Patrol and sheriff’s office asked drivers to avoid the area while emergency services responded.
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it would move the plane to an undisclosed secure facility for inspection as part of a thorough investigation into what happened in the final moments before the crash. .
The plane’s black box and cockpit records were sent to NTSB agency headquarters in Washington, D.C., for independent analysis.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
