A former Army bomb disposal expert who risked his life to help save a pilot and two teenagers from a burning plane on the A40 near Abergavenny has received the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for his heroism.
Joel Snarr made the rescue on Sunday morning, May 11, 2019, alongside Abergavenny salesman Daniel Nicholson, who was also awarded the honour last May.
And Joel, a veteran of three tours of Afghanistan, said the incident had helped his own recovery from post-traumatic stress after being discharged from the Army in 2018.
The duo were driving along the dual carriageway in separate cars around 11am when the four-seater Cirrus SR22 light plane suffered engine failure and hit overhead power lines and a tree.
It had just taken off from Abergavenny Airstrip, and careered into the central reservation, luckily missing vehicles.
Without thinking of their own safety, Joel and Daniel rushed to free pilot Stuart Moore and his nephew and niece Jack Moore, 19, and Billie Manley, 16, who had been flying to watch Cardiff City play Manchester United at Old Trafford.
And the duo got the trapped trio out of the overturned plane just seconds before it burst into a fireball.
Both men received St David’s Bravery Awards in the Welsh Government’s 2020 honours and 2019 Pride of Britain awards, and the 38-year-old former serviceman was presented with the QGM at a Windsor Castle ceremony last Wednesday.
Mr Snarr, who also served in Iraq and Northern Ireland, told PA the incident was a changing point in his own life, adding: “When I was talking to Princess Anne, we got into the topic of how it was quite redeeming for myself.
“I had just got to the end of a messy clinical discharge from the Army, for post-traumatic stress.
“It’s not anything I ever wanted, I never wanted to leave the Army that way, I felt useless for a long time, I was in a very bad place.”
Reliving the moment he and his fellow rescuer rushed to help, he said: ”Before I even knew it, I had hold of the pilot and I felt rejuvenated that I got to be useful again.
“It was a test. It was a key moment in my life where I had felt useless and awful, and wondering whether I was capable of anything again.
“The rescue showed that I was, it was a redeeming day.
“If our response had been 60 seconds later... it didn’t take long for the fire to cook off the fire extinguisher and things like that, it was getting so hot inside the plane.
“It melted the central reservation barrier, that had to be replaced.
“It got so hot that your feet could feel it 20, 30 metres away.
“Speed was of the essence.”
And of the award ceremony, he added: “It was a particularly excellent touch to be ex-services and be the last standing for the national anthem with Princess Anne.”
The Welsh Bravery citation awarded in 2020 said: “Without thought for their own safety, Joel and Daniel worked quickly to get the occupants out.
“Daniel spotted a crack in the back window, and managed to break it sufficiently to rescue the two teenagers.
After this, Joel was able to drag the pilot to safety through the same window.”
Daniel, 48, who was driving his son back to Abergavenny from a sleepover at the time of the crash, said afterwards: “The whole plane was engulfed in flames. It had turned upside down so the flames were on top…
“At the rear there was a crack in the window – I thankfully got it open enough and Jack got his arms out and I managed to pull him out.
“His sister was in a lot of distress and she said ‘I can’t do it’ so I convinced her to put her arms out and Joel thankfully came from the other side.
“Literally as soon as we got them out the plane was completely engulfed and exploding.”
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