A pilot who crashed his medical helicopter outside of a Philadelphia Church last week, with four people aboard, including a child, refused to call himself a hero and instead claimed that it was all due to a higher power.
‘I had God as my co-pilot that day, and we took care of the crew and we landed in His front yard, so that was kind of nice,’ Daniel Moore told a crowd of well-wishers as he left Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia on a stretcher to be transported home on Sunday.
Moore had been at the hospital since last Tuesday, when the helicopter he was flying crashed outside Drexel Hill United Methodist Church in Delaware County. All four onboard, including the 2-month-old girl and two nurses, survived.
Amazingly, nobody was hurt by the helicopter landing in a residential area, about one block away from restaurants and half a miles from schools.
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Photograph of Pilot Daniel Moore waving at a group of well-wishers, after being discharged five days following a helicopter crash. This was taken on Sunday in Delaware County.
Moore broke multiple bones after the helicopter he was piloting crashed into a building outside of a Church.
Moore’s helicopter is seen lying on its back after the crash landing in Drexel Hill (Pennsylvania), January 11.
Moore said of the crash outside Drexel Hill United Methodist Church: ‘I had God as my co-pilot that day, and we took care of the crew and we landed in His front yard, so that was kind of nice’
Moore, who had been piloting helicopters for 27 year, sustained several injuries. These included eight broken ribs as well as four vertebrae and one sternum fractures. Moore underwent surgery.
All other passengers of the plane, which included the infant being transported to Children’s Hospital Philadelphia by the father, were safe.
Talk to Good Morning AmericaMoore, speaking from Virginia at his house on Monday said that he doesn’t remember much about what occurred in the seconds before or after the crash.
“I remember flying in. It was beautiful. Moore said that Moore was the only thing that he remembers from the day after it happened, being on the ground.
He also spoke with Fox 29 about the great feeling of seeing a whole crew of firefighters look down on him in a separate interview.
Pilot stressed that Kevin Chafee and his flight nurse were the true heroes of that day. They pulled the infant from underneath the helicopter before Kevin Chafee grabbed a fire extinguisher, which was used to put out the flames in the cockpit.
Moore also praised the first responders who rushed to the scene of the wreck to help the survivors.
Moore, speaking to GMA in Virginia from his Virginia home on Monday, said that he cannot recall the impact.
The scene shows a flight attendant escorting a baby to safety out of the smokey wreckage.
After the plane landed on the street and crashed into the church, the outside of the church was covered in smoke.
Passersby watching in shock as the helicopter’s passengers miraculously emerged from the wreckage, without any assistance
Moore said, “I was just an ordinary lump and they were taking good care of me.”
Moore’s fiancée, Gail Miller, accompanied him on the ride home from the hospital on Friday and praised his actions, but also attributed the outcome of the crash to divine intervention.
According to her, “What happened on that day was not a small miracle,” she stated to CBS Philadelphia. “When I spoke with my children, I said that there were two pilots aboard that plane, Dan and God, and that he had missed the church and power lines. Nobody was hurt.
Local news cameras captured smoke rising from the helicopter while it was parked in residential neighborhoods.
Upper Darby Fire Chief Derrick Sawyer called it a ‘miraculous landing’ and said the community was ‘truly blessed’ by the outcome. The church was largely unaffected.
One local man was on errands and felt terrified when the helicopter appeared directly above him.
‘I was actually frozen for a second when that happened because I was just looking at a helicopter,” Joshua James told CBS Philadelphia. ‘It’s no way to explain it. This almost felt like Game of Thrones. You see a giant object in the sky coming towards you, and you feel it as if you are watching Game of Thrones. It was crazy.
Jarrell Saunders (a witness at an apartment building nearby) said that he saw the helicopter in trouble just before it crashed.
He stated that the object was floating and could have landed on his building.
He watched in amazement as the helicopter landed on the street and glided into the church. He said that smoke started to rise from the aircraft’s downed cabin and its occupants leapt out.
He said, “I’m telling mine grandkids this one,” to the outlet.
Incrediblely, nobody on ground was hurt by the helicopter. All passengers, as well as the pilot suffered minor injuries that were not life-threatening. The crash did not cause significant damage to the church.
Timothy M. Bernhardt, Upper Darby Police Superintendent, said that it was an amazing miracle none of the passengers, including an infant, sustained life-threatening injuries.
Helicopter landed in residential areas, close to schools and homes.
Moore stated that Tuesday was his first aviation accident during his 27-year career.
Air Methods stated in a statement that the twin-engine EC 135 chopper was based out of Hagerstown Maryland. The helicopter was being operated by LifeNet (local medical service), and owner Air Methods.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are currently investigating the causes of the accident.
According to the statement, “Our team will work with them fully in order to identify the causes of this tragic accident.” We will respect the privacy rights of those aboard, but we won’t share any further information.
Hagerstown was home to the twin-engine EC 135 helicopter. It was managed by LifeNet, a local medical organization.