A Bucks County man who was “in the right place at the right time,” was commended Oct. 27 for saving the life of a man trapped in the wreckage of a single-engine airplane that crashed Sept. 28 onto a residential property along Keystone Road, in the western portion of Salisbury Township.

Salisbury Township Police Chief Kevin Soberick presented the commendation to Ronald Diehl, of Richland Township, Bucks County, at the regular meeting of the township Board of Commissioners Oct. 27.

The commendation said that Diehl, “took decisive action in a hazardous environment and as a result saved the life of another person.”

Diehl, who works for S&D Renovations, of Breinigsville, was standing at the base of a large tree on a residential property along Keystone Road, when he saw an airplane heading toward the tree. He managed to flee from the position as the plane descended. “I could see the pilot’s sunglasses through the cockpit windshield just before it struck the tree,” Diehl said. “All I could hear was limbs breaking” as the plane hit the tree before landing upside down in the base of the tree.

“A wing of the plane was stuck in the tree and leaking fuel,” Diehl said. Diehl saw a leg inside the fuselage and “just yanked the man out onto the lawn. Shortly after that the plane caught fire and exploded,” with the student pilot at the controls of the plane trapped inside.

Diehl said he did not consider himself a hero, but he felt compelled to try and do something. “I would hope that if it was me, or someone I love, in a bad situation, somebody would be there to try and help.”