Pulled From Burning Plane : Mouth-to-Muzzle Effort Saves a Junkyard Dog

“Junkyard,” a mixed terrier, was back at her owner’s side last week, after the pooch was given mouth-to-muzzle resuscitation by an Orange County fireman and its owner who pulled Junkyard from a burning airplane.

Aerial photographer George Sandy, the dog’s owner, put Junkyard inside a classic 1949 Cessna 195 on Wednesday to taxi to a wash area at John Wayne Airport. But trouble started when Sandy primed the fuel mixture to start the cold engine. Instead, the engine backfired and triggered a blaze that sent clouds of thick smoke into the cockpit.

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

Minutes went by as firefighters arrived to battle the blaze that by then had consumed the engine and part of the cowling. That’s when they heard the small noise.

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

Hides Under Rear Seat

Sandy and Fire Capt. Scott Nelson rushed to a rear compartment. Sandy, who recalled that Junkyard usually hid under a rear seat when they encountered 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 dog’s snout.

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

Taken to Hospital

He rushed his dog to a veterinary hospital in Newport Beach, Fire Capt. Lou Furst said, while praising the rescue as an extraordinary effort on the part of Sandy and Nelson.

The dog, a bouncy terrier and Chihuahua mix, was released from the hospital Thursday.

Junkyard received her moniker because, Sandy said, “that’s where I found her.” The dog has accompanied her owner on aerial photo flights in all of his aircraft, storing herself under his seat when he takes pictures and sitting on his lap during straight flight. So far, the dog has recorded about 800 hours of flight time.

Owner and dog have become close during the three years since Sandy found the small, five-pound pooch in a junkyard in Needles. On flights 12,000 feet and higher, Junkyard shares his oxygen mask.