Fred Derf Veteran Posted August 3, 2005 Veteran Share Posted August 3, 2005 Aug. 3, 2005. 07:14 AM Motorist comes to rescue HILDA HOY STAFF REPORTER An ordinary day at work turned into a harrowing experience for one Toronto man, who "didn't even think" before risking his own life to rescue babies and terrified passengers yesterday. Guy Ledez, 37, was driving on Pearson airport property when he saw the Air France plane slide off the runway. Instinctively, he ran over to the badly damaged aircraft, which had crashed into a steep gully, and with another bystander, helped pull passengers from the fiery wreckage. The two men then climbed into the burning plane to check for trapped passengers before escaping themselves. Ledez narrowly escaped an explosion that rocked the aircraft just before he jumped out. "I didn't even think of what I was doing. I just did it," he said from a friend's house late last night. Just before the crash, Ledez had been driving a company vehicle on Convair Dr., which curves around the southwest corner of airport property where the plane skidded off the runway and crashed into the wooded gulley. He works for a car rental company that regularly provides vehicles to the airport. He had been driving parallel to the descending plane as it prepared to land, he said. "There was lightning in the sky. I'm pretty sure I saw lightning hit it." Before he could think, the plane had plunged into the gully at the edge of airport property, just metres from Highway 401, which was packed with rush-hour traffic. "I just thought, `Oh my God, oh my God, it's crashed!'" Although cars in front of him on the road quickly turned around and headed in the opposite direction from the crash, Ledez stopped his own car, quickly snapped two pictures with his cellphone, then sprinted over to help. "It was a steep gully, about 10 feet (deep). It was very slippery and just pouring rain, practically hailing," he said. He quickly began to help passengers out of the wreckage. "I was just pulling people up as fast as I could ... I was handed at least three babies. There were lots of older people who practically needed to be lifted up," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "There was just panic. Everyone was really, really shaken. Lots of people were crying. They were just trying to get away from the plane." After 10 or 15 minutes had passed, the stream of passengers ended. Then, with the other man who had stopped to help, Ledez climbed up an emergency escape chute and into the burning plane. "We each took an aisle," he said. The two men did a sweep of the plane to ensure that nobody had been left behind. Inside, it looked like "disaster had hit. It was really hard to see. Stuff was everywhere. It was very smoky." Satisfied the craft was empty, they headed to the front of the plane, where the exit didn't have an emergency chute. The first man jumped, but just as Ledez was about to, an explosion rocked the rear of the plane. He jumped at least five metres to the ground and just started running. "The only time I had a rational thought was when I was in the plane and about to jump out. I thought, `Oh my God, I could die.'" Ledez was kept on a bus along with passengers from the plane for about two hours before being taken to the nearby Sheraton Hotel and later, a terminal building, for interviews and medical assessments. He was taken to a police division to retrieve his car and returned home shortly after 10 exhausted, hungry and sore. His back hurts from pulling people from the wreckage and he has some scrapes on his head from a barbed wire fence, but mostly he feels shaken. He now realizes that if he had been driving on the road 15 or 20 seconds earlier, his car could have been caught in the plane's skid into the gully. "I don't think I'll be able to get to sleep tonight," he said. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...id=968332188492 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boss_Hogg Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 RIGHTTTT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3r0 Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 omg omg it's crashed -> hey let's take some pictures to show how great I am only in america (and with that canada) but all credit for what he did, it's brave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brodel Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 omg omg it's crashed -> hey let's take some pictures to show how great I am only in america (and with that canada) but all credit for what he did, it's brave 586318365[/snapback] The photo was taken by a passenger, the guy wasnt about to save a small child from flames and then decided not to so he could brush his hair for a photo :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rror Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 WOW. Another Real American Hero. They should make a movie!!! I smell bs.... :sleep: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwjw1 Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 In this exclusive photograph taken by a passenger, people scramble to get off the Air France plane. hmmmm....and here is a burning plane...and someone takes the time to think....hmmmm let me get out my camera and take a picture of this.....geeeeesh....and hold up the line of people trying to escape..while I snap this picture.....AirFrance did you say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob2687 Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 Well atleast he went to help unlike some other people who just stopped by the highway to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premgenius Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 Well atleast he went to help unlike some other people who just stopped by the highway to watch. 586318551[/snapback] Agreed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webeagle12 Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 bah bs, they all would get out alive without his help crew, that who you have to give credit, not some king of loser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
costanza007 Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 They could make a movie with Gena Davis, Dutin Hoffman, and Andy Garcia in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostShell Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 Well atleast he went to help unlike some other people who just stopped by the highway to watch. 586318551[/snapback] Good point. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emo Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 this could be true, or just bs. if it is true then i give him credit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soham Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 wb will be buying the rights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrA Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 Well atleast he went to help unlike some other people who just stopped by the highway to watch. 586318551[/snapback] I don't think those people on the highway could have helped. I'm pretty sure there's a fence between the 401 and the airport. This guy was already on airport property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwollenGoat Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 The dude that helped pull people out of that ravine and climbed into the plane to see if there were any other survivors is a good friend of mine. His story has been verified by Peel Regional Police and the Associated Press, as well as the Toronto Star. He wanted nothing to do with any kind of media attention, but I called the Toronto Star on that Tuesday night because I thought that people should know who he was and what he did. He has not been paid for any of his appearances in any media outlet whatsoever, in fact he has racked up what is going to be a large cell phone bill. That's all. Unlike the passenger that snapped photos and got paid for them in a bidding war, my friend Guy provided the pics that he snapped for nothing. Free of charge. I don't know why he took them, I suppose he was overwhelmed and just decided to take some pics and was then aware of the gravity of the situation and went to help. There was another fella that climbed up the escape slide with him and checked the plane, but he wants to remain anonymous. It would seem he doesn't have a ******** friend like me that would throw his life into turmoil (and scrutiny, it would seem). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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