The Green Ramp Disaster (Patreon)
Content
Here are a few extra notes that I wanted to include in this story, but couldn’t quite find space for in the video.
Sergeant Daniel E Price
Because so many people experienced the crash, there are dozens of accounts of it to be found online. There was one, however, that particularly struck me. Specialist Corporal Estella Wingfield survived the disaster thanks to the actions of a man she’d never met before: Sergeant Daniel E Price. In her own words:
"He looked me in the eye, grabbed me by the shirt, threw me several feet in the air and jumped on top of me... An instant later, I heard the blast, felt the extreme heat from the explosion and the debris falling on us..."
Wingfield survived. Once the blast had rolled over them, Price told her to crawl out from under him. She did so, and then ran to the nearest available shelter. When she realised that Price wasn’t right behind her, she returned to find that he had passed away.
Care in the aftermath
This is one accident that was handled extremely well in a number of different ways. In the video I talk about how swift and co-ordinated the evacuation and firefighting efforts were. But the military also did extremely well when it came to looking after their injured soldiers.
As well as excellent medical care for those who had been burned, the army provided counselling and therapy for those who had witnessed or survived the crash. A lot of thought was given to how best to liaise with the media and keep families informed.
Here’s a picture that somewhat captures some of that:
This is a soldier setting out berets made for the injured paratroopers in hospital. Each one is sterilized and sealed in its own plastic bag, to ensure that it can’t pass on an infection to the burned individual who’ll be receiving it.