The military pilot who averted disaster by steering a failing fighter jet away from a Maryland neighborhood before it crashed was among more than 60 heroes honored at the Prince George's County Valor Awards Wednesday.
D.C. Air National Guard Capt. Jonathan Morgan was doing a training exercise over the D.C. area last year when he took a sharp turn to avoid restricted airspace above D.C. and the engine of his F-16 failed.
“That is when I jumped into the ejection mindset, and that is when I start searching for open fields,” Morgan said.
He had just minutes to figure out how to bring down the plane without crashing into homes.
“I have a big flame coming out the back end of my engine, and at that point, things get a little bit more complicated,” Morgan said.
He received a gold medal of valor Wednesday.
Also among the honorees was John Proels of Prince George's County Fire and EMS, who was sitting at a bar in Upper Marlboro when a car crashed into it.
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“I got hit from behind and I received a number of lacerations that glass stuck in the back of my head,” he said.
Still, he helped rescue several others trapped by debris.
“Once I got back up off the ground, I kind of gathered myself up again and just started doing what I could,” he said.
The awards ceremony, which was emceed by News4's Doreen Gentzler and Tracee Wilkins, was dedicated to Jim Vance.
