Sargent Bob Salter dragged Leslie Bloomer to safety after the British Midland Boeing 737 carrying him killed 47 as it smashed into an embankment on the M1
THIS is the heartwarming moment a Kegworth crash survivor was reunited with the hero ex-cop who pulled him from the burning wreckage.
Sergeant Bob Salter dragged Leslie Bloomer to safety after the British Midland Boeing 737 he was travelling on crashed on an embankment of the M1 close to the village in Leicestershire 30 years ago.
Villagers and drivers who were on the motorway at the time helped emergency services in the aftermath of the horror crash, which killed 47 people and seriously injured 74 more.
Survivors and families of those killed in one of Britain's worst ever air disasters attended a church service and wreath-laying ceremony on Tuesday to mark 30 years since the tragedy.
Speaking at the remembrance service Mr Bloomer, 57, said: "He's a lovely man and it was an emotional meeting.
"It's been amazing to come over here to see the service and the highlight was meeting Bob - he recognised me immediately as soon as I came into the hall."
He'd only been on the plane after making a last-minute change to his booking.
Mr Bloomer added: "I never thought I'd meet him again."
Mr Salter was on emergency duty that night and was the first person on the scene of the crash.
He said: "I was set to East Midlands Airport, but before I got there the aircraft crashed in front of me and broke up into three places on the embankment of the motorway.
"It was still on fire when myself and another officer climbed onto the wing, took the exit door out, and the first person I saw was Leslie.
"We dragged him down the motorway embankment and put him in the back of my police Range Rover.
"Today was very emotional, meeting him. It feels as though we've been friends for 30 years."
He said they would keep in touch after the memorial.
British Midland flight 92 had been diverted to East Midlands Airport after leaving Heathrow for Belfast when one of the plane’s engines caught fire.
But Captain Kevin Hunt and co-pilot David McClelland then mistakenly switched off the wrong engine and efforts to make an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport failed.
Instead the plane, which was on fire and had blazing debris dropping from it, hurtled into the M1 just a few hundred feet short of the runway at East Midlands Airport.
Despite the crash, nobody on the ground was injured and some of the passengers were able to walk away unscathed.
Most of the deaths occurred at the front of the plane but 79 people, including the two pilots, survived.
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