Now that's what you call a bumpy landing

A pilot faced near certain death as his glider plummeted nose first into a runway, only for him to walk away from the wreckage with minor injuries.

Mike Newman made a remarkable escape after his aircraft crashed in front of thousands of onlookers at an airshow.

Eyewitnesses described how the nose of the glider crumpled as it hit the concrete, with spectators falling silent.

Moments later, however, the 35-year-old stunt pilot crawled away from the remains of the high-performance aircraft. He is expected to make a full recovery.

The accident took place at the Shoreham air show in West Sussex, where about 15,000 people had gathered to watch a series of aerobatic displays.

Mr Newman was among those performing with the Swift Aerobatic Display Team, regarded as one of the most respected acts on the European airshow circuit.

The former racing driver turned glider instructor, was piloting the S-1 Swift G-IZII.

With a wingspan of more than 12 metres, the Polish-made glider - one of only 35 ever built - is capable of an array of special maneouveres, including rolls, flick rolls, loops, outside loops, tailslides and tumbles.

As part of the display at Shoreham, the glider was supposed to fly alongside two powered aircraft, but after only a few minutes, it was released from its tow line and flew downwind, before turning to make its final approach to land.

Among those looking on was Robert Yuill, an amateur photographer, who took the remarkable series of pictures.

"He had a very lucky escape indeed," Mr Yuill said. "As he turned, I realised the glider was at the wrong angle as its nose went down. He had lost air speed and headed straight into the ground.

"It was not far off vertical when it hit the runway. The nose section just crumpled. It was an awful thing to see.

"There was a silence from the crowd as people took in what had happened around 400 feet in front of them."

Mr Newman, who was the UK unlimited aerobatic gliding champion in 2008 and 2009, was taken to Worthing Hospital after the accident, and has since been transferred to a hospital nearer his home in the Surrey town of Egham where he is being treated for three broken vertebrae.

Guy Westgate, a spokesman for the Swift Aerobatic Display Team, said: "He was very, very lucky. It was a combination of extreme good fortune and the dynamics of the crash.The fact that the structure was breaking up and disintegrating prior to the cockpit touching the ground took the energy away from the occupant."

Following the accident last month the aerobatic team has worked with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch and the British Gliding Association to investigate what happened.

Mr Westgate said the crash was not due to the weather or a failure of an element of the flying display, but was a "landing accident".

Asked if Mr Newman was determined to fly again, he added: "He is just determined to get better. It is far too early to say how he will feel in the future after such a close call. I wouldn't believe anything he said about flying again for some weeks."