A medical professional who jumped in to help the survivors of a fiery plane crash in the San Juan Islands told KIRO 7 he turned life jackets into splints in the accident’s immediate aftermath.
On Thursday, a Kenmore Air float plane came down near Sucia Island, struck rocks on the shore and caught fire. It happened right in front of Jason Maris, a physician’s assistant who rushed over in his boat to help.
“The plane flattened out, caught the water and the next thing you know, just a huge boom,” Maris said. “It was so violent. We did not expect to see any survivors, honestly.”
Thankfully, Maris was wrong. All 11 people on board got out of the plane before it was engulfed by flames. Maris and other boaters ferried the survivors away from the fire.
“The smoke got so dense, you really couldn’t breathe,” he said. “We had to keep moving down the coast to get them on.”
Then came triage and tending to the most seriously injured. Without medical equipment, Maris had to make do with only what he could find on the open water.
“I was just looking for anything to splint legs and things like that,” he said. “I knew the lifejackets had the plies of foam in them, so I just cut one open, pulled a few pieces out and wrapped it around.”
Maris said there are so many things that could have played out differently and resulted in a loss of life. Luckily, he and others in the area were ready to help however they could before emergency crews arrived.
“I was a Boy Scout growing up and a former Marine. With my medical training, I just tried to improvise,” he said.
A spokesperson said Kenmore Air returned to the skies Saturday after canceling Friday’s flights for a “comprehensive review.”
It is still not clear what exactly went wrong, though the company said the pilot changed the flight path due to bad weather. An investigation into the crash is ongoing.
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