Proms display plane crashes but music goes on

A pilot was taken to hospital after a plane involved in a "flying proms" air display crashed.

The incident happened at 19:20 BST at the Shuttleworth visitor attraction, near Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, and involved a de Havilland DH.88 Comet with one person on board.

The pilot, who is understood to have been landing the plane, was safely removed before being taken to hospital and was discharged on Sunday. Images on X show a large presence of emergency service vehicles.

A spokesperson for the Shuttleworth Trust said: "The crew member in question has been extracted, is responding... the second half of the orchestral performance will therefore continue."

They said no further information could be given at this stage, but they could confirm there had been no danger or injuries to anyone else on site.

A Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson confirmed they had been called to reports of an aircraft crash at the site on Saturday evening.

"Fire crews from Sandy and Kempston attended along with two fire officers," they said.

"No action was taken by our crews other than to provide incident management support to Shuttleworth's on-site fire crews."

In an update on Sunday, the trust said the pilot had now been discharged from hospital.

It said: "We would like to thank all of the staff, volunteers and emergency services for their dedication and support during and beyond the incident."

Details about "the state of the aircraft" would be issued in due course, the trust added.

It is the second incident at the airfield in recent months following another crash during the Wings and Wheels Air Show in May.

There was a large emergency response during that incident too. The pilot involved was not seriously injured.

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