Washington Teen Saves Pilot After Helicopter Crashed on Top of His Tractor: 'Saw it Last Second'
A teenager in Washington state found himself in a precarious situation when a helicopter crashed down onto the tractor he was driving at his family's cherry orchard.
Last week, Logan Schneider had been busy "blowing cherries" — a process to dry-off the fruits following a recent rain, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The 19-year-old was wearing noise canceling headphones when he heard "two thumps," the paper said.
"I looked up and that's when I saw it," he told the Times. "As soon as I saw it coming down on me I was like, 'Oh no, this is definitely gonna hit me.'"
Schneider told KING-TV that he was "pinned up against the steering wheel... stuck with the nose of the helicopter sitting right here," motioning to behind the driver's seat.
Not only was the teen able to free himself from the wreck, he was then able to turn to rescue the pilot, who, according to the station, was hanging upside down still in his harness.
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"I heard him screaming," Schneider told the station. "I looked and I saw him ... upside down hanging ... fire was everywhere. When I was in the moment I really wasn't thinking. I was just doing."
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the pilot, Cori Johnson, was the only person in the helicopter, the Times reported.
Orondo Firefighters Association Facebook Firefighters responded to a helicopter crash in a cherry orchard
In a Facebook post from the Orondo Firefighters Association, Orondo Fire said officials responded to a report of an "aviation accident" at 9:20 a.m. on July 6.
When firefighters arrived at Schneider's family farm, they found both the helicopter and tractor in flames.
"Firefighters initial efforts were hindered by difficult access and high voltage power lines," the post said. The helicopter initially hit power lines above Schneider before dropping, per KING-TV.
"Once the power lines were de-energized firefighters extinguished the fire on both the tractor and helicopter," Orondo Fire wrote.
The association added that the Orondo Fire Department, Ballard Ambulance and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office also responded to the incident. The orchard is about about 12 miles north of Wenatchee, in the central part of the state, KING-TV reported.
The FAA told PEOPLE that the helicopter involved was a Hiller UH-12E and that it crashed "after becoming tangled in power lines while conducing agricultural operations" in the area. The agency said they will be investigating the incident.
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Schneider and Johnson were both transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, the Times reported.
KING 5/Youtube Helicopter crashes in cherry orchard
Schneider told the paper that he had sustained small second degree burns on his arms as well as muscle damage in his back, which he is now wearing a back brace for.
The extent of Johnson's injuries were not immediately clear, according to the Times.
Schneider recently graduated high school and plans to enroll at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake. Coincidentally, he hopes to become a commercial airline pilot.
After the accident, his dream remains unchanged. "I still want to be a pilot," he told the Times.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that the crash was under investigation.
A NTSB preliminary report of the accident obtained by PEOPLE confirmed that just two people were injured in the crash. Their injuries were listed as "serious."
