O. Jack Phillips attempted to save Robert H. Snure from burning, Denver, Colorado, December 3, 1951. Snure, 27, Air Force co-pilot, Teddy D. Allen, and 12 other men comprised the crew of an airplane which crashed upright on a one-story house. The house was flattened at the impact, which ruptured the fuel tanks of the airplane and badly damaged the wings and nose. Snure was thrust violently against the instrument panel and rendered unconscious as the airplane came to rest at ground level. Flames 20 feet high enveloped the wing sections and the fuselage for 30 feet aft of the wings. Heat was intense. Running 250 feet to the nose, Phillips, 33, carpenter, entered the wreckage and made his way to Snure, who was pinned partly in his seat, his head and shoulders protruding through a broken window. Phillips made repeated attempts to pull Snure from the seat but could not dislodge him and withdrew from the wreckage. Advancing through flames on the ground adjoining the nose, Charles A. Nelson, George R. Steck, Stanley L. Moor, and Joseph A. Carson reached Snure and with great effort drew him from the window opening and carried him to safety. Shortly afterward a series of explosions occurred, and the flames increased in intensity. Four other crewmen escaped at the nose of the airplane. Allen, who had been stunned, reached an escape hatch 27 feet from the tail. As Allen thrust his head and arms through the hatch five feet above the ground, be became stuck; and his clothing was ignited. He called for help and lost consciousness, hanging head downward from the hatch. Dominic Lepore was attracted and ran toward the hatch. Stepping through scattered flames three feet high on the ground opposite the fuselage, Lepore reached Allen and pulled him from the hatch. He dragged Allen to beyond the area of flame and extinguished his clothing. Seven of the crew perished in the flames, which consumed the airplane. Snure sustained severe injuries and was disabled six months.
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