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Ukip candidate Nigel Farage was pulled from the mangled wreckage of a plane with only minor injuries today after an airborne stunt came crashing to earth.
The MEP, who is also standing in the General Election for Buckingham, escaped from the crushed cockpit with non life-threatening head injuries.
The light aircraft was towing a banner bearing the slogan "Vote for your country - Vote Ukip" when it came down with the former party leader and a pilot inside.
Mr Farage was taken from Hinton-in-the-Hedges airfield in Northamptonshire to Horton General Hospital in Banbury, Oxfordshire. This afternoon, he was transferred to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where he was likely to stay, missing his own count.
The plane crashed just after 8am, more seriously injuring the pilot Justin Adams, who managed to use his mobile phone to call emergency services.
He was airlifted to Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry.
A Ukip spokesman said: "Nigel's main concern when he was in the ambulance afterwards was for the welfare of the pilot, who was trapped in the wreckage.
"The plane was on its roof. They were hung upside down. But throughout the whole thing both the pilot and Nigel were talking, conscious and breathing".
The spokesman, who was at the airfield and witnessed the accident, described it as a "shock" and said both men were lucky to be alive.
When asked about how the incident might affect the party's campaign, he said: "The main thing today is the survival of two men. It's not about political points today".
The wreckage of the blue and red aircraft was left lying upside down in a field with the cockpit badly damaged.
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Kinchin, of Northamptonshire Police, surveying the mangled metal, said: "Looking at the wreckage behind me, I think you can make your own judgment as to how lucky they were".
He added: "The people inside the plane were lucky to come out with not very serious injuries".
The plane had been preparing to land when it crashed, officers believe, and conditions were overcast.
Describing how the crash happened, Mr Kinchin said: "It is our belief that the plane had recently taken off from here and was manoeuvring back to the airfield".
Police officers remained at the crash site, at the edge of a field, gathering evidence.
The aircraft is a PZL-104 Wilga 35A, a Polish fixed-wing landplane, which left the Winchester area of Hampshire early today and was due to fly over Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire.
Mr Farage's constituency rival, Commons Speaker John Bercow, said: "I was concerned to learn of this morning's crash. I wish Nigel Farage and his pilot a full and speedy recovery".
Mr Bercow's wife, Sally, sent out a message on micro-blogging website Twitter to say: "Shocked at news that Ukip's Nigel Farage has been involved in plane crash. But glad he appears to be OK".
The crash was being investigated by Northamptonshire Police.
A 40-year-old man, who was working at the airfield when the accident happened, said: "I was in the hangar and suddenly all these ambulances and fire engines went past. I saw the plane take off. All I know is that it was banner-towing for Ukip".
The plane's registration is G-BWDF and, according to the Civil Aviation Authority, it is owned by Sky Banners in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.
A spokeswoman for Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service said crews attended the scene and released the two men from the aircraft.
She added that they were called to the crash just before 8am, along with crews from neighbouring Oxfordshire.
She said: "Two passengers were on board the aircraft which came down at Hinton-in-the-Hedges near Brackley.
"The passengers were released by the fire service and taken to hospitals in the area.
"Air accident investigators have been informed and will be investigating the cause of the accident".
A Ukip spokesman said today was the third time the plane had gone up, with Mr Adams flying it on the previous two occasions.
The Independent
