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Soldier who helped save trio from burning plane: 'It is a miracle they lived'

Bomb disposal expert Joel Snarr says he helped pull a girl out of the burning plane by her belt buckle and the pilot by his hands.

Aircraft in flames on dual carriageway
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A bomb disposal expert who helped rescue people on-board a light aircraft that crashed onto a dual carriageway and burst into flames has said it is a miracle anyone survived the "inferno".

Joel Snarr was driving along the A40 when he said the plane came out of nowhere and "nosedived into the central reservation" between Abergavenny and Raglan.

The 35-year-old from Aldershot, who was travelling with his wife Sarah, said he stopped the car near the plane and started running towards it while his wife called the emergency services.

The A40 has been closed following the crash. Pic: Jo Pocock
Image: The A40 was closed following the crash. Pic: Jo Pocock

He noticed another motorist - Daniel Nicholson from Abergavenny - had already smashed one of the windows of the aircraft and freed a boy.

Mr Snarr, a soldier who is retiring after 15 years in the armed forces, told Sky News: "He was trying to get a young lady out so I helped him and grabbed her by her belt buckle and we dragged her out.

"I managed to grab the pilot by both hands and pulled him out.

"Once I was happy there was no one else in there we started moving away from the plane which had turned into an inferno.

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"We stayed with everyone until the ambulance took all three to the local hospital.

"The odds of not hitting someone else on the A40 and managing to get out of an upside-down plane on fire - someone was looking down on them that day. It was a miracle."

Smoke was seen billowing into the sky. Pic: Twitter/dog_gruff
Image: Smoke was seen billowing into the sky. Pic: Twitter/dog_gruff

Mr Nicholson, who managed to film the burning wreckage after the rescue, said: "I just went towards the plane, it was a total panic. It was quite frightening."

He added that the aircraft "blew up" minutes after the passengers and pilot were freed from the plane.

Police said the aircraft's occupants were treated at the scene and that they were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries as a precaution.

Mr Snarr said the pilot's mother called him on Monday to thank him for saving her son.

"My understanding is that it was an uncle and his niece and nephew in the plane," he said.

He said he had also received a couple of text messages from people thanking him - but be had no idea who they were from.

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