Patrick Dodson, 38, saw the plane hit near his house and in the course of running to aid the pilot was struck by what he believes was shrapnel from the explosion.
Dodson happened to be on his porch in Clinton when he looked up to see a jet flying low and billowing smoke. A figure suddenly shot up and away from the plane and a parachute popped open almost instantly. Dodson watched the pilot drifting as the plane pitched sharply in a nose dive, heading his way.
He screamed to his mother, sister and 4-year-old nephew to get out of the house as he dashed off the porch and ran toward the drifting pilot. The plane was still coming, making a deep whoop-whoop-whoop until it went down on the far side of the houses across the street and erupted in a fireball that knocked Dodson off his feet.
He jumped up and kept running, only to feel sharp stings in his arm and hand. He pulled a small piece of metal from his thumb, so hot he dropped it immediately. He could hear the whizzing of what sounded like bullets in the trees, and he ducked momentarily around the corner of a house.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member