Warracknabeal's Graham Drage and Horsham's Rebecca Trinnick thought fast in two separate incidents in 2012.

Mr Drage has been recognised with an Australian Bravery Medal for his part in rescuing two people from a burning plane near Bendigo.

He said he was just doing what needed to be done.

Mr Drage was instructing Underbool man Andrew Willsmore on a light aircraft flight in October three years ago and had just landed at a private airstrip in Barnadown when disaster struck.

"We were just getting out of the aircraft when another aircraft landed upside down right beside us," he said.

"The memory of the sickening crunch of when it hit the ground is something I will always remember."

The aircraft, with three people on board, crashed into power lines during landing and burst into flames.

Mr Drage, Mr Willsmore and airstrip caretaker Rod Shearer smashed one of the plane's windows and dragged a passenger out.

The trio then went around to the other side of the aircraft and unbuckled and pulled out the pilot, who was hanging upside down.

"We didn't know if we saved a person or saved a body," he said.

Mr Drage said another passenger was unresponsive and unable to be removed from the burning wreckage.

"The memory I'll always have is seeing the body in the flames and the feeling of helplessness," he said.

Mr Drage said he didn't feel like his actions warranted a fuss.

"I don't feel like I did anything anybody else wouldn't have done," he said.

He said the event left him with mixed emotions.

"It's a good feeling to help them, not a good feeling one of them didn't survive. It would have been a better feeling if it hadn't happened," he said.

"You think 'it could have been me in there, it could have been someone pulling me out'."

Mr Willsmore and Mr Shearer were also recognised for their efforts with bravery medals.

Mr Drage said it was an experience the three of them would never forget.

"We really drew our strength from each other. None of us could have done it on our own," he said

He said the experience had not changed his enjoyment of flying, a hobby he has enjoyed for more than 50 years.

"I got back flying as quick as I could - I tried to put it behind me," he said.

Miss Trinnick, along with three other Victorians, has been recognised with a Group Bravery Citation for attempting to rescue a man who crashed his ute at Milltown, also in October 2012.

She said instincts kicked in when she saw a burning ute crumpled into a tree just off the Henty Highway late one night when driving home from work.

The nurse pulled over to find a man trapped and the ute's engine alight.

"All that was visible of the driver was his arm," she said.

"I went into delegation mode and put my nurse's hat on."

Miss Trinnick took control of the situation, liaising with emergency services via phone and instructing others to warn oncoming traffic.

She said she called on truck drivers to use their fire extinguishers and anyone with picnic blankets or rugs to smother the fire.

"At one point people they were trying to douse the flames with their work shirts," she said.

Miss Trinnick tried to communicate with the trapped man to no avail, but was able to detect a pulse.

She said the group continued to try to extinguish the blaze and free the man, but were unsuccessful on both counts.

Miss Trinnick said after some time she checked the man's pulse again. It had stopped.

She said she knew then there was nothing more she could do, and instructed everyone to step back for their own safety.

Moments later, the fuel tank exploded.

"It was absolutely earth-shattering," she said.

"The whole event went for about 30 minutes but time stood still in that moment, it was a pretty surreal event."

Miss Trinnick said she went to the man's funeral and met his parents to find some closure.

"They both embraced me," she said.

"They felt horrible for me to have witnessed that event but thankful as well."

The group has already received a The Royal Humane Society of Australasia Annual Bravery Award Certificate of Merit for its efforts.

Miss Trinnick said at first she did not feel she deserved the recognition.

"What I'm realising by getting these awards is not everyone would do what we did," she said.

"Maybe I did step out of what a normal citizen would do."

Mr Drage and Miss Trinnick will officially receive their awards at a ceremony later this year.