A Russian Israeli has been dubbed a hero after helping to save passengers on board an aircraft that crashed in Thailand on Sunday. But Vladimir Freylikhman modestly says he was just trying to save himself and his family.

An emergency flight brought the couple, both in their late twenties, back to Israel. It was the moment their families had been praying for.

The accident was Thailand’s worst air disaster in a decade. The charter jet crashed and burned while trying to land in heavy rain and wind. Forty-three people survived. 

Vladimir and Isabella were on their first holiday abroad. They had been seated near the emergency exit. Vladimir remembers trying to open it but it wouldn’t budge. He then ran with another passenger and forced open the door on the opposite side.

The scene of the crash

Vladimir threw his wife from the plane and then jumped out himself. More than twenty people followed.

In Israel he’s been hailed a hero but Vladimir himself says he was just trying to save his wife. 

Vladimir and Isabella were the only Israelis to survive. Eight others were killed in the crash that claimed the lives of some one hundred people.

The cause of the crash is still unknown.