James N. Tennant saved Joseph N. Green from burning, Manila, Utah, August 25, 1961. When Green, 32, helicopter pilot, maneuvered his helicopter from a mountaintop clearing, the rotor blades struck a tree and caused the craft to crash to the ground. Green was injured and lost consciousness while held by his seat belt inside the bubble-type cabin of the craft, which was tilted at a sharp angle against the trunk of a tree, which had been felled. Flames broke out on the engine and spread to the outside of the cabin as Tennant, 36, supervising engineering technician, ran to the tree trunk. Although that side of the helicopter was free of flames, the tree blocked all but the top 18 inches of the cabin doorway. Lying across the tree trunk within three feet of the rapidly spreading flames, Tennant extended his body to the waist into the cabin through the narrow opening. After unfastening Green’s seat belt, Tennant wriggled farther into the cabin and tried to turn Green’s inert body. Green then revived. Wriggling backward, Tennant emerged from the cabin and pulled Green through the opening. As Tennant aided Green away from the craft, the fuel tank ruptured and burning gasoline flowed on to the ground. Flames spread over the helicopter, rising 15 feet into the air. Tennant tried to put out the flames on the ground lest they start a forest fire. Within five minutes a heavy rain put out the ground fire, but flames consumed all of the non-metallic parts of the helicopter. Green was hospitalized and recovered.
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