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Pilot who survived a plane crash with 63% third degree burns explained the experience

Home> News

Updated 06:49 13 Jan 2023 GMTPublished 21:14 12 Jan 2023 GMT

Pilot who survived a plane crash with 63% third degree burns explained the experience

Jamie Hull was training to be a pilot when his engine caught fire

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

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An SAS soldier was forced to jump from a smouldering plane to save his life, burning 63 percent of his body in the process.

Jamie Hull was training to be a pilot when his engine caught fire in Florida, USA, back in 2007. Watch him relive his terrifying ordeal here:

He'd only been flying solo for a week, but as he could smell his own flesh burning, he knew he needed to take decisive action.

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"I was under no illusion that if I didn't get out of that cockpit quick the likelihood was I wasn't going to make it," he told us as part of our Minutes With series.

"I was gonna be a gonner, and that fire would have certainly overwhelmed me and I wouldn't have lived to tell the tale.

"The only option I foresaw was indeed to try to get out of that cockpit early, but I needed to get her, the aircraft, to a safe level to have any chance of pulling that off."

James Hull was left in agonising pain before being transferred to intensive care.
www.jamiehull.co.uk

With the flames lapping his face as he made his descent, Hull climbed on to the wing.

He recalled: "I got on to that left hand wing, clambering over that door lip, and then I stood on the wing, and was able to stand on the wing momentarily.

"I jumped, I would estimate at a height of 15ft. In reality I was probably traversing at perhaps 30 knots (34 mph) so it was a tremendously hard impact.

"Even though I landed feet first I then thrust forwards and smashed my face on the sharp Florida razor grass below.

Doctors did not think he would survive.
www.jamiehull.co.uk

"I remember my right shoulder was still on fire, so I had to aggressively pat it out, and my right scalp, I could sense it was still on fire."

Hull - who was 32 at the time - then watched on as the plane crash landed before exploding, and as the heat from the inferno ripped through the air, he experienced the first wave of what would be a prolonged period of agonising pain.

"The only way I can describe that is like a tsunami of pain, that washed over me from head to toe," he said.

"I just cannot describe the intensity of that."

He opened up about the terrifying experience.
LADbible/YouTube

Hull's face was fractured in numerous places, and he ruptured his large intestine and lacerated his liver when landing.

On top of that, he sustained 63 percent third degree burns.

Thankfully, the emergency services were quick to arrive at the scene - but the next six months of his life were a blur.

Doctors gave him a five percent chance of survival, but over a period of two years in hospital - during which time he underwent more than 60 operations - Hull made a recovery.

You can read more about his remarkable tale in his new book, Life on a Thread, and watch the full UNILAD Minutes With episode here.

Featured Image Credit: UNILAD/LADbible

Topics: UK News

Jake Massey
Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

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@jakesmassey

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