September 10, 2024 • 8 mins
The extraordinary George Burk joins Jonesy & Amanda to chat about his incredible story of being the sole survivor of an Air Force airplane crash in 1970.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jersey and Amanda jam Nation.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Have you ever wondered what did it be like to
survive a plane crash? Well, in May nineteen seventy, George Burke,
air Force officer, took to the skies in a small
aircraft along with thirteen others. Just minutes after take off,
the plane suffered explosive decompression, sending the aircraft hurtling back
to the ground.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Everyone except George died.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
George was the sole survivor, and here we are, over
fifty years later, he's.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Still here to tell his story. Hello, George Burke, how
are you.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Good? Ay? Mates? I guess it's too early to put
a ship on the barbie.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
It's never too early to do that, George, you've established
all that. So mate, what's it like? What's it like
to be in a plane crash?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
What happened that day? Take us back to it?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Well, I'll start, I'll be quick. A lot of things
happen inside your playing. We were find out we were
at twenty nine hundred feet on clim out. First thing
I noticed was a window cracked, and then a few
seconds later the airplane had what they called rapid decompression.
All the windows were blown out. I glanced quickly to
(01:13):
my left and then to my right. We were seated.
I was seated in the front apartment with two of
my NCOs. The props were windmilling, flames were lapping over
and under the engine calling. I unbuckled my seat belt.
With the airplane going down, pitching, yawing, and rolling, I
(01:33):
stood up and did one hundred and eighty degree turn,
grabbed a hold of structural bulkhead doorway, looking down into
the cockpit, the nose was split open, the top part
of the canopy was flapping. The incipitation with panel was
back of my boss's lap. It was flying his copilot.
The left side of the cockpit was completely gone, was open,
(01:58):
and although I do not don't, just remember seeing Captain
Robinson Robbie our pile at his head. He was his
head was off at his shoulders. He's decapitated. I sat
back down on my seat, buckled my seat belt in
the survival position as best they could. Put something in
my lap, perhaps a cushion had blown free, and the
(02:21):
last conscious thought I remember having was I my insurance
pauses are intact. I remember. The impact was the bake
breaking and bending and shearing metal I was thrust violently
back against the bulkhead. We had airline type seats in
(02:42):
the aircraft was an air Force twenty nine convert. And
then when airplane stopped moving my trunk, my face was
slammed forward on the table in front of us, and
it turned out it broke my nose. And then I
holldered at one of the guys to me, let's come on, Fred,
Let's get the hell out of here. I unbookomed, my
(03:05):
sweet belt, stood up three quarter standing position, pivot towards
the aisle. The next thing I felt was large like
buckets of scalding hot water being thrown on me. It
was what people told me later what's called a flashover.
(03:28):
Then everything went black and then I don't know how long,
it was only just a minute or two. I opened
my eyes outside the air playing face down. I didn't
I don't recall doing it, but I told those around
me for many weeks when I was in the ICY.
(03:52):
I was in the ICY at brook Brook Army Medical
Center for three months, not expected to live in eighteen
months in the hospital, when I was still somewhat alert
for the first seven to ten days, one of the
things I told the rescuers and my hospital staff at
the burnings that I dug one way out through a
crack in the fuselage of the airplane. I don't remember
(04:14):
doing that. I don't know how long I lay there.
I rolled over my back. I looked at my hands
or hands, my hands with yarred black. The skin on
my left hand, I was left hand. It was hanging
like a glove of softball sized glove of skin. I
(04:35):
looked at my shoes, my lace. My shoes were still on,
which in Laer my feet would have been burned off.
The laces in my left shoe were gone, which I
found rather unusual. Yeah, I thought, I thought I heard
somebody crying for help. I rolled back on my stomach,
elbows and knees, called maybe ten yards to the airplane,
(04:58):
and hurt enough a muffled explosion, hissing noise, and another explosion.
I felt a great deal of eating my face and
after a few curse words, there's nobody alive in that
sob I did one hundred and eighty degree turn and
crawled over what turned crawled back to where I opened
my eyes over turned out what turned out to be
(05:22):
parts of airplane and eucalyptus trees.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
And you are the soul survivor of this.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
That's extraordinary. How many two you were risky?
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Well, no one knew that it was It was just
literally minutes, but no one knew that I was found.
They found the Actually the first people on the scene
were volunteer of firefighters from Shellville, California, which is nearby
near Nevado. They found me about forty minutes later down
(05:54):
the pasture underneath some trees, where I managed to walk.
But the story that came about which was true. A
rancher named John Davio and his wife managed the two
thousand anco cattle ranch in Shellville, and every Monday morning
(06:15):
for twenty five years, he set out in his four
over drive red pickup truck to check the area for
dead and stray cattle. Monday morning, May fourth, nineteen seventy
the weather was so bad, rain clouds, fog. He cut
short his trip and come down through a ravine. And
(06:38):
when I saw him for the first time in nineteen
seventy four, we went back up to the crash site.
He told me, Captain, all the years had been on
that ranch, I'd never been through that ravine before. He
was headed back down to the ranch, smelled smoke. What
are the neighbors doing burning in a day like today?
Speaker 1 (06:57):
And he found you.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
That's what it was.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
He found So you're like a survivor out of all that.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
It was destiny.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
It was destiny that you would be found.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
George.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
One of the things that people ask is if you
have a near death experience like that, does it change you?
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Do you live every day differently because of it?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
That's a good every day's an adventure and every meal
is a banquet.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Yeah, and that's something to live by. George, that is
something well, that is just an amazing dry.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Thank you for giving us an insight into that.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
The fact that today in Australia, September eleven, today where
and when we look at what went terrible all those
years ago for you to come out of that, George,
thank you for sharing your story.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Well, thank you for inviting me and I if I
could take a moment. When I was in Vietnam a
sixty seven sixty eight, I met a lot of Australian blokes.
There's any Australian veterans that are popping having a few
pints yet, I wish him well, tell them I wish
for me is welcome home. And I want to thank
(07:59):
both of you for were inviting me, and and Mom
and Joeanne and God bless you all.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
George, You're lovely and thank.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
You, thank you, thank you for thinking about its. Wow,
what an extreme, extraordinary time.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I have goosebumps. What a story,
Jersey and Amanda jam Nation.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Have you ever wondered what did it be like to
survive a plane crash? Well, in May nineteen seventy, George Burke,
air Force officer, took to the skies in a small
aircraft along with thirteen others. Just minutes after take off,
the plane suffered explosive decompression, sending the aircraft hurtling back
to the ground.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Everyone except George died.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
George was the sole survivor, and here we are, over
fifty years later, he's.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Still here to tell his story. Hello, George Burke, how
are you.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Good? Ay? Mates? I guess it's too early to put
a ship on the barbie.
Speaker 4 (00:38):
It's never too early to do that, George, you've established
all that. So mate, what's it like? What's it like
to be in a plane crash?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
What happened that day? Take us back to it?
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Well, I'll start, I'll be quick. A lot of things
happen inside your playing. We were find out we were
at twenty nine hundred feet on clim out. First thing
I noticed was a window cracked, and then a few
seconds later the airplane had what they called rapid decompression.
All the windows were blown out. I glanced quickly to
(01:13):
my left and then to my right. We were seated.
I was seated in the front apartment with two of
my NCOs. The props were windmilling, flames were lapping over
and under the engine calling. I unbuckled my seat belt.
With the airplane going down, pitching, yawing, and rolling, I
(01:33):
stood up and did one hundred and eighty degree turn,
grabbed a hold of structural bulkhead doorway, looking down into
the cockpit, the nose was split open, the top part
of the canopy was flapping. The incipitation with panel was
back of my boss's lap. It was flying his copilot.
The left side of the cockpit was completely gone, was open,
(01:58):
and although I do not don't, just remember seeing Captain
Robinson Robbie our pile at his head. He was his
head was off at his shoulders. He's decapitated. I sat
back down on my seat, buckled my seat belt in
the survival position as best they could. Put something in
my lap, perhaps a cushion had blown free, and the
(02:21):
last conscious thought I remember having was I my insurance
pauses are intact. I remember. The impact was the bake
breaking and bending and shearing metal I was thrust violently
back against the bulkhead. We had airline type seats in
(02:42):
the aircraft was an air Force twenty nine convert. And
then when airplane stopped moving my trunk, my face was
slammed forward on the table in front of us, and
it turned out it broke my nose. And then I
holldered at one of the guys to me, let's come on, Fred,
Let's get the hell out of here. I unbookomed, my
(03:05):
sweet belt, stood up three quarter standing position, pivot towards
the aisle. The next thing I felt was large like
buckets of scalding hot water being thrown on me. It
was what people told me later what's called a flashover.
(03:28):
Then everything went black and then I don't know how long,
it was only just a minute or two. I opened
my eyes outside the air playing face down. I didn't
I don't recall doing it, but I told those around
me for many weeks when I was in the ICY.
(03:52):
I was in the ICY at brook Brook Army Medical
Center for three months, not expected to live in eighteen
months in the hospital, when I was still somewhat alert
for the first seven to ten days, one of the
things I told the rescuers and my hospital staff at
the burnings that I dug one way out through a
crack in the fuselage of the airplane. I don't remember
(04:14):
doing that. I don't know how long I lay there.
I rolled over my back. I looked at my hands
or hands, my hands with yarred black. The skin on
my left hand, I was left hand. It was hanging
like a glove of softball sized glove of skin. I
(04:35):
looked at my shoes, my lace. My shoes were still on,
which in Laer my feet would have been burned off.
The laces in my left shoe were gone, which I
found rather unusual. Yeah, I thought, I thought I heard
somebody crying for help. I rolled back on my stomach,
elbows and knees, called maybe ten yards to the airplane,
(04:58):
and hurt enough a muffled explosion, hissing noise, and another explosion.
I felt a great deal of eating my face and
after a few curse words, there's nobody alive in that
sob I did one hundred and eighty degree turn and
crawled over what turned crawled back to where I opened
my eyes over turned out what turned out to be
(05:22):
parts of airplane and eucalyptus trees.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
And you are the soul survivor of this.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
That's extraordinary. How many two you were risky?
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Well, no one knew that it was It was just
literally minutes, but no one knew that I was found.
They found the Actually the first people on the scene
were volunteer of firefighters from Shellville, California, which is nearby
near Nevado. They found me about forty minutes later down
(05:54):
the pasture underneath some trees, where I managed to walk.
But the story that came about which was true. A
rancher named John Davio and his wife managed the two
thousand anco cattle ranch in Shellville, and every Monday morning
(06:15):
for twenty five years, he set out in his four
over drive red pickup truck to check the area for
dead and stray cattle. Monday morning, May fourth, nineteen seventy
the weather was so bad, rain clouds, fog. He cut
short his trip and come down through a ravine. And
(06:38):
when I saw him for the first time in nineteen
seventy four, we went back up to the crash site.
He told me, Captain, all the years had been on
that ranch, I'd never been through that ravine before. He
was headed back down to the ranch, smelled smoke. What
are the neighbors doing burning in a day like today?
Speaker 1 (06:57):
And he found you.
Speaker 3 (06:58):
That's what it was.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
He found So you're like a survivor out of all that.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
It was destiny.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
It was destiny that you would be found.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
George.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
One of the things that people ask is if you
have a near death experience like that, does it change you?
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Do you live every day differently because of it?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
That's a good every day's an adventure and every meal
is a banquet.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Yeah, and that's something to live by. George, that is
something well, that is just an amazing dry.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Thank you for giving us an insight into that.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
The fact that today in Australia, September eleven, today where
and when we look at what went terrible all those
years ago for you to come out of that, George,
thank you for sharing your story.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
Well, thank you for inviting me and I if I
could take a moment. When I was in Vietnam a
sixty seven sixty eight, I met a lot of Australian blokes.
There's any Australian veterans that are popping having a few
pints yet, I wish him well, tell them I wish
for me is welcome home. And I want to thank
(07:59):
both of you for were inviting me, and and Mom
and Joeanne and God bless you all.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
George, You're lovely and thank.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
You, thank you, thank you for thinking about its. Wow,
what an extreme, extraordinary time.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I have goosebumps. What a story,
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