TWO men narrowly escaped death when their vintage plane crashed near a popular picnic site.

The Tiger Moth bi-plane came down in Spring Wood, Whalley, narrowly missing the busy A59, at 7.30 last night.

Paramedics and firefighters from Clitheroe, Accrington, Altham and Longridge had to make their way across a stream and through dense trees to find the stricken aircraft.

Co-pilot John Bridge, 67, of Ulverston Avenue, Blackburn, was cut free from the mangled wreckage and airlifted by police helicopter to Royal Preston Hospital with serious head and leg injuries where his condition this morning was described as "stable." Pilot Kevin Handley, 47, of Arkwright Close, Blackburn, was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary with minor injuries and was due to be discharged today. Wiswell villager Andy Stanworth was driving along the A59 when he saw the aircraft crash into the woods.

He said: "It seemed to be heading for a nearby golf course, but overshot and came down in the woods. I rushed to the accident spot and found one man walking around in a dazed state.

"Another was in a bad way and trapped in the wreckage. I tried to keep him talking until the emergency services arrived. Several trees around the crash site were knocked down."

A spokesman for Lancashire Ambulance Service said the co-pilot was treated and stabilised at the scene by paramedics and a doctor while being cut free from the wrecked aircraft by firefighters. "He was conscious when we got to him and despite serious injuries was in good spirits. They certainly had a lucky escape," he said.

A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary said the plane took off from Hoghton, between Blackburn and Preston, but is thought to have crashed after suffering mechanical failure.

"It is too early to comment on what caused the accident. A full investigation is being carried out today by a team of specialists from the Civil Aviation Authority," he said.

Mr Bridge has been a pilot for more than 35 years and is also a microlight enthusiast.

In the early 1980s he became one of only four UK microlight test pilots approved by the CAA.

Mr Handley is also a microlight enthusiast and took up the sport in 1984.

In 1989 he took part in a round-the-country rally with 48 other microlighters.

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