Paul A. Ansolabehere

Paul A. Ansolabehere helped to save Robert Fiske from burning, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, October 5, 2009. Fiske, 66, was the lone occupant of a twin-engine airplane that lost power while in flight. The plane crash-landed in a wooded ravine, trapping Fiske inside, and flames broke out at the right side of the fuselage, near the wing. Ansolabehere, 45, business executive, had followed the stricken plane’s course while traveling in the vicinity. He then ran into the ravine and mounted the plane’s left wing, joining another man who had responded. Ansolabehere tried to gain access to the smoke-filled cabin by attempting to open its canopy and breaking out a window, but he was not successful. The two men then obtained a metal bar from the plane’s nearby storage compartment and with it broke through the window. They then reached inside the plane and pulled Fiske out onto the wing. Flames had grown to reach into the trees, and they breached the cabin from its right side. Ansolabehere and the other man lowered Fiske to the ground and, with the help of others who were responding, carried him from the ravine to safety. Fiske was hospitalized for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash and for smoke inhalation. He recovered. Ansolabehere sustained puncture wounds to a hand, minor burns to his face, and singed hair, and he too recovered.