Carl A. Sporven saved George W. Vinson and Paul E. Brown from burning, Saint Columbans, Nebraska, July 7, 1948. An airplane in which Vinson, 29, and Brown, 29, were flying crashed and turned over, the impact ripping off the nose of the fuselage and one nacelle and partly embedding the plexiglass canopy of the cockpit in the earth. Dense smoke rose from the broken nacelle and the wing near the cockpit. Vinson and Brown freed themselves from their safety belts and parachute gear, and Vinson broke a small window in the canopy on the side away from the smoke. Sporven, 70, farmer, ran to that side. Unable to break the plexiglass by pulling on the window edges from a kneeling position, he braced his knees against the fuselage at the rear of the canopy and snapped off a piece of plexiglass with a hard pull. He enlarged the opening by breaking off fragments and scraping earth away from the embedded part of the canopy. Gusts of flame by then rose about seven feet in the smoke. Vinson extended his arms through the opening, and Sporven pulled him out. Both then pulled Brown out. All ran away from the airplane, at which a series of explosions started two minutes later. It was destroyed. Each man sustained a minor laceration, but none was burned. 41433-3572
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41433-3572