Low-Flying Plane Swipes off-Duty Firefighter’s Car. Watches Plane Crash Freeway, Burst into Flames

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John Meffert was driving down the freeway recently when something strange happened. The off-duty firefighter jumped right in to action when he saw what was going on.

Meffert was driving home when he noticed a small plane flying way too close to the ground. "I was on the phone with my dad and I told him, 'There's a plane really low. I think this plane is going to hit me,'" he said.

The wing of the plane grazed Meffert's car hood, and then crashed into the ground. Witnesses feared the worst.

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Meffert's first thought was that the passengers in the plane had to be dead. The crash was so bad that he couldn't imagine anyone had survived.

He felt so much relief when he saw a head emerge from the wreckage. He quickly got out of his car to help the victims.

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"I wasn't thinking about my own safety. That's probably due to the wife that was a passenger. I saw her face and head pop up out of the passenger side. If she could be there, I thought I could be there," said Meffert.

The passengers were an older married couple, and they both had major injuries. Meffert carefully extracted them from the debris and kept them safe until medical professionals arrived.

Meffert is quick to point out that he wasn't the only one that jumped in to help. "A lot of people were ready to help. I just happened to be in a position that maybe I was the first one there," he said.

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Multiple people had fire extinguishers and were trying to put out the flames. Their efforts did not go unnoticed by Meffert.

County Fire Authority Captain Larry Kurtz was inspired by Meffert's attitude about the situation. "He seems very humble, very selfless. We certainly need more people like him in the world. He was very calm and very relaxed. Obviously he's a professional and he deals with emergency situations all the time," he said.

It is a good thing that Meffert was around when this accident occurred. His quick actions helped to save the lives of two people who had a close brush with death!

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Source: Low-Flying Plane Swipes off-Duty Firefighter's Car. Watches Plane Crash Freeway, Burst into Flames