PENTHEON STORIEs
EXTRICATION FROM A SINGLE-SEAT AIRCRAFT

WHAT
Aircraft accident
Single seat Cesna 172
1 entrapped victim

WHERE
Nineveh Township
Indiana
USA

WHO
Engine Co. 101
Nineveh Township Fire Department
Told by Ethan J. Straker

THE SCENE
OVERCOMING ALL OBSTACLES

In February of 2022, the Nineveh Township Fire Department, Engine Co. 101 and various other Southern Johnson County fire departments responded to an aircraft accident. “It happened at a small airfield in a very rural area,” Straker recalls. “When the pilot crashed the plane, it ended up about 900 feet off the runway in a muddy field. Operating in a rural area, we’re used to access issues. But this situation was one of the more difficult we’ve encountered.”

As the first arriving company, Straker and his division were assigned medical and extrication by the chief on scene. Because it was impossible to get any closer, they had to walk about 300 yards (275 meters) to the plane. Straker: “From our division, one guy grabbed a medical bag, one carried a Pentheon Series spreader and one a Pentheon Series cutter. Compared to the hose tools we had before, with a total weight of about 230 pounds, having battery powered Pentheon tools really was a game-changer in being able to quickly reach the aircraft.”

“At the scene,” Straker continues, “we saw that the pilot’s legs were under the engine block and entangled in the fuselage. We hadn’t seen anything like this before, so initially it was somewhat overwhelming. In terms of risk assessment, we also noticed that there was a small fuel leak that we had to take care of.”

THE RESCUE OPERATION
MAXIMUM CONTROL IS PARAMOUNT

“In terms of stabilization, we assessed the situation and saw that the way the plane had landed, the vehicle wasn’t going anywhere. The medics could already reach the patient at this point, as some of the plane’s glass had shattered upon impact and the door had already come off. At first, we thought the simplest way to get the pilot out would be from the side door of the plane. But as his legs were entangled, we weren’t able to do this. There was no other option than to cut the nose of the plane away.” 

This is where they used the Pentheon cutter and spreader, explains Straker. “First making small cuts to the fuselage and then using the spreader to push the nose away from the rest of the plane. The cuts we made were just one tenth of an inch at a time, to make sure we didn’t injure the patient’s limbs further. With the Pentheon Series tools, we were able to have a great amount of control over this movement. We wouldn’t have been able to do this with other tools, I’m convinced. After the nose was separated, it was relatively easy to get the patient out the front, in a linear way. Eventually, we were able to get the patient out in twelve minutes, which is well within reasonable expectation. After that, he was transported to the hospital by helicopter.”

THE POWER OF PENTHEON
LOOKING BACK ON THE MISSION

“Given the circumstances we were in, having the Pentheon tools really helped us,” says Straker. “We actually just received these a couple of weeks before the accident. If we had anything other than Pentheon, we wouldn’t have been able to do this as effectively, safely and efficiently. We used to have older tools from a different brand. Using them, we would have needed way more guys to carry a pump, hoses and tools if we still had those. Now, with two guys, we could just take the cutter and the spreader. Plus having the confidence that the Pentheon tools would operate when called upon. I cannot stress enough how much easier the Holmatro Pentheon Series tools made our jobs at this incident.”