RAF officer swoops to the rescue of driver entombed in submerged car

Christine Rhodes, 47, skidded her Fiat Punto on black ice, hit a verge and crashed down a steep embankment, landing upturned in freezing water. As the car quickly started to fill up, Christine could not get out.

But by luck, Wing Commander Ian Jones, 40, was driving past the scene on a Moray country road with his family when he spotted the car in the water.

The serviceman, a dentist at RAF Kinloss, had decided to take his wife, Su, and three young children to Spynie Canal to show them where he used to spend time fishing.

He said: "I noticed the car in the canal. I made a joke 'that's how not to park your car' then I saw the exhaust was still going.

"The car was upside down in the water and I could see the window sill. Then I saw a hand at the glass.

"I ran back to Su and told her to call 999 as there was someone trapped in the car.

"I'm a climber and had climbing ropes in the back. I ran down to the bank, took the ropes out, kicked off my shoes and got into the water. It was cold.

"I thought the water would come up to my knees, but I sank in up to my waist in mud. I saw one person trapped in the car. She pressed her face up to the window and said 'I'm stuck'."

The back windscreen was smashed and water was pouring into the vehicle.

Ms Rhodes, who had been travelling from her home in Llhanbryde to visit a friend in Lossiemouth when it happened on Tuesday morning, initially opened the driver's window but water came flooding in even faster.

She said: "The water was just flowing in. It was freezing and I lost my bearings because I was completely under the water. I couldn't find an escape route. I thought that was the end.

"But I managed to get my arms out of the window and was then pulled free by this guy, who turned out to be Ian. He got me out then tied a rope around me so I wouldn't be swept away.

"He and two passers by then managed to pull me out of the canal, wrapped me in a sleeping bag and hugged me to keep me warm.

"They are all heroes. The angels were smiling on me."

She was taken to Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin with hypothermia and later discharged.

Wing Commander Jones, a cub scout leader with a pack in Hopeman, said he used skills he learned as a boy. He said: "When I was eight I was a cub and my Akela showed me the one-handed bowline. I've waited 32 years to use it."

He managed to secure the rope under Christine's arms to pull her free from the water and although the rescue lasted a matter of minutes, he said it seemed like hours.

The serviceman added: "It will take a long time before the image of her face and hand at the window disappears."

Fiat Punto skids on black ice and lands upside down in Spynie Canal

Ian Jones, driving past on a family day out, spots car and notices exhaust fumes coming out

He wades into water with a length of rope and sees frantic driver Christine Rhodes inside car, with her face pressed against window, shouting ‘I'm stuck'

She gets her arms out of window and he pulls her clear, using rope to secure her, then wraps her in sleeping bag to warm her up