Scottish OAP badly hurt as light plane crashes into bungalow

A SCOTTISH pensioner was seriously injured after a light aircraft he was flying in clipped a bungalow and crashed into the home's back garden.

The Piper Caribbean plane got into trouble as it flew over the village of Netley Marsh, near Totton, Hampshire, on Thursday afternoon.

It clipped the roof of the bungalow, hit a greenhouse and landed in the garden, police said.

Hampshire Police said later that the 74-year-old pilot, from north Hampshire, remained in a critical but stable condition.

The passenger, a 73-year-old from Dunfermline, was making "good progress" and was in a stable condition, also at Southampton General Hospital.

The Fife man was not named by police.

A police spokesman said: "The investigation is now being led by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).

"They are currently on the scene and attempts are being made to remove the aircraft from the crash scene in the remaining daylight hours before transporting it to the AAIB facility in Farnborough."

It is not yet clear what prompted the crash but the Air Accidents Investigation Branch has carried out an initial assessment of the scene.

Both men were taken by ambulance to Southampton General Hospital and police said last night they were in a stable condition.

A police spokesman said the aircraft was flying from the Isle of Wight to another destination in Hampshire at the time of the crash.

"Fortunately the occupants of the house were not injured in any way but the pilot and passenger have injuries and are being treated at hospital," he said.

A number of residents in Woodlands Road, where the plane crashed, were evacuated as a precaution and the road was closed for a short time.

It was closed again yesterday while the plane, commonly known as a Tri-pacer, was moved from the garden.

A police cordon remained in place outside the bungalow last night.

Anyone who saw the crash or the plane prior to the accident has been asked to call police.