DX Wombat
Yes, some bravery of the rescuer, identified here
A teen hero has told of pulling a Kiwi plane crash survivor from the wreckage minutes before it exploded.
Pilot Kelby Cheyne, 25, was the only survivor of a Transair crash on a Papua New Guinea island that killed four Australian men and one New Zealander.
Trainee carpenter Henson Jasper, 19, told the Herald on Sunday he saw the plane crash during torrential rain about 3.30pm.
"When the plane came in to land at the airstrip I saw the smoke," the Misima Island local said in halting English. "The left wing was on fire and I saw the wing explode.
"I just ran down and saw the plane. I stood and looked in and the people were calling."
He said the windscreen was cracked so he smashed it with a branch. "I pulled the pilot from the plane. He was panicked. I was talking to him and he couldn't answer me.
"I carried him out and put him lying down.
"I went back to help the others but I couldn't, because when I turned back the plane was exploded," he said.
He said other villagers helped him carry Cheyne into an ambulance.
He visited Cheyne in hospital. "I asked him 'do you remember me?' He answered me, 'I still remember you - thank you very much'."
Cheyne grew up in Dunedin and Twizel before moving to Australia in his teens. After the rescue, he was flown to Australia and has now been discharged from Townsville Hospital in northern Queensland.
and here
Misima Island hero Henson Jasper, a trainee carpenter in his early 20s, heard screams and ran into the wreckage and dragged the pilot to safety moments before the jet exploded into flames.
"He risked his own life to save the pilot," said Misima guest house worker Eli Uda.
She said the jet speared into a stand of coconut trees at the end of the rain-affected runway before bursting into flames.
"Everyone in the village ran towards the crash site as soon as we heard the plane hit," Ms Uda said. "Henson was one of the first on the scene and hearing cries for help ran in and dragged the pilot to safety.
"But then the plane exploded and caught into flames.
"He tried to turn back and save the rest but the fire was too fierce. He could not go back."
She said everyone in the tiny island community was deeply saddened by the tragedy on their doorstep.
The Citation is a pressurised aircraft, almost impossible to kick a windscreen out. not so hard to knock it inwards, as this rescuer did.