By Nick Natario, ABC13 Houston.
GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) — Instead of screams, a Galveston man said he experienced a different set of emotions when he met the women he helped save from a deadly plane crash.
After hearing a plane crashed in Galveston Bay last week, Harry, also known as Sky Decker, never thought this would be the outcome.
“I intend to maybe go visit them in Mexico,” Decker said. “I hope to stay in touch with them. I just wish them that full recovery.”
On Dec. 22, Decker jumped in a boat and navigated thick fog before coming upon plane debris. Once there, Decker said he could hear screams.
Cameras captured the moments he jumped in the water.
“We were able to get her out,” Decker recalled. “She was alive.”
She wasn’t alone. Authorities said another woman was saved as well.
The Mexican Navy says the women were a part of a plane crash involving their crew. Officials said six people died, including four navy members, a doctor, and a young child.
Decker pulled the child’s mother to safety. When he saw her days later, he said she was struggling to comprehend what happened.
“She was very traumatized,” Decker explained. “Very traumatized. The other girl seemed to be doing much better. She’s in much better shape physically.”
An organization from Mexico said the plane was on a mission to transport the young child to the U.S. to receive burn treatment. Shiners Children’s in Galveston said the family was heading to their location.
Over the weekend, the organization from Mexico said both survivors are stable.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash. A NTSB spokesperson told ABC13 on Monday it has nothing new to add.
A preliminary report should be released next month, according to NTSB. The spokesperson said they’ll look into several factors, including the plane, pilot, and weather conditions, which, at the time of the crash, the National Weather Service said visibility from the fog was less than a quarter of a mile.
“I just immediately attributed it to the fog, but maybe there’s more to the story, because from what I understand, they lost communication with the plane for about ten minutes prior to the crash,” Decker said. “That seems very strange.”
The Mexican president said the loss in communication is under investigation. As for the survivors, Decker said they couldn’t tell him much.
“She said she didn’t remember the crash at all,” Decker said. “She just remembers coming to, and luckily she was draped over a gurney or a stretcher and her head was out of the water.”
A position that allowed Decker to get to her and pull her to safety. Now, he’s able to see her once again in an outcome he never thought was coming.
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This story comes from our news partner ABC13 Houston.
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