TWO people survived a horrific plane crash after their Piper Cherokee aircraft crashed into a hedge at Spence Airfield, between English Bicknor and Lydbrook.

The drama began at 12.50pm on Friday when residents enjoying the sunshine in Central Lydbrook heard a loud noise coming from the direction of the airfield. Half an hour later the air-ambulance circled the village before landing near where the plane – registration G-KATS – had hit the hedge at the end of the runway, removing a wing, before it flipped over and burst into flames.

Emergency services arrived, with a total of seven fire engines, two ambulances and the air-ambulance. Wreckage from the crash which totally destroyed the aircraft, was strewn over the adjacent field, while the wing remained embedded in the hedge.

The pilot, 51, was airlifted to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, while his passenger, a woman aged 49, followed by ambulance. Neither are believed to have life- threatening injuries.

The aircraft, first registered in 1982, had flown in from Newton Abbot and was making a landing at the airstrip when the accident happened.

"He may have been taken by suprise at how steep our field here is. It's possible he thought of going round again for another landing, but got caught out by the steepness of the landing strip and caught the hedge," said a local resident who knows the field.

"It was a miracle escape."

The Air Accident Investigation Bureau will be investigating the crash - since they look at every incident involving aircraft – but this is likely to be 'by correspondence'. Meanwhile, flights from the airfield, which is some 45 years old, continue – the wreckage that remains at the end of the airstrip providing a sobering lesson to the aviators.