Dog Gone, Almost : Quick Thinking Saves Aerial Photographer’s Best Friend From Fire

A mixed terrier named Junkyard was back at her owner’s side Thursday, a day after she was pulled from a burning airplane and revived with mouth-to-muzzle resuscitation from her owner and county firefighters.

Aerial photographer George Sandy, the dog’s owner, put Junkyard inside a classic 1949 Cessna Wednesday as it was about to taxi to a wash area at John Wayne Airport.

But because Sandy had primed the fuel mixture to start the cold engine, the engine backfired and triggered a blaze that sent thick smoke into the cockpit.

“When I opened the door to get out I thought the little bugger (Junkyard) was right there with me. She usually is,” Sandy said Thursday.

Several minutes went by as firefighters arrived and fought the fire, which by then had consumed the engine and part of the cowling.

That’s when they heard a slight noise.

“It was coming from the cockpit. I said: ‘My God, that’s my dog!’ ” Sandy recalled.

Sandy and Fire Capt. Scott Nelson rushed to a rear compartment. Sandy, who said he knew that Junkyard usually hides under a rear seat when they fly in turbulence, immediately began throwing out cans of oil and luggage from the compartment.

“I reached in and found her. But when I laid her on the pavement, her eyes remained open and her tongue was hanging and I thought I lost her. It was very scary.”

Sandy said he lowered his head and started administering resuscitation. When he tired, Nelson took over until another fireman put an oxygen mask over the mongrel’s snout.

Tense moments went by, Sandy said, until Junkyard “pulled in her tongue, blinked her eyes and started breathing.”

He rushed her to a veterinary hospital in Newport Beach. The dog was released on Thursday.

A bouncy, five-pound terrier and Chihuahua mix, Junkyard received her moniker because, Sandy said, “that’s where I found her (in a junkyard in Needles).”

Junkyard has accompanied her owner on aerial photo flights in all of his aircraft, remaining under his seat when he takes pictures and sitting on his lap during straight flight. So far, the dog has logged about 800 hours of flight time. On high-altitude flights (12,000 feet and higher) Junkyard shares Sandy’s oxygen mask.

Wednesday’s fire, which caused an estimated $22,000 damage to the plane, wasn’t Junkyard’s first close scrape. Once, Sandy said, she took on a large golden retriever and “lost bad, needing 28 stitches.”