Spitfire crash landing closes East Midlands Airport runway

The Second World War fighter plane came in to land at East Midlands Airport but as it did so the undercarriage collapsed leaving the aircraft beached on the runway.

The pilot was unhurt and the airport's own fire and rescue teams were last night dealing with the crash which is thought to have been caused by the front wheel support breaking.

An airport spokesman said the runway is currently closed to all flights.

Six arrivals, including flights from Scotland and Tenerife, were diverted to Birmingham airport.

"The runway is shut and flights are suspended because of where the plane has come to rest," he said.

"All inbound flights have been diverted and outbound flights have been suspended, but we are expecting to be operational within two hours."

He advised any passengers booked on flights to check in as usual.

The spitfire, which is based at the airport, is one of around 35 still able to fly around the world.

Edward Coxon from Hartshorne, Derbyshire, who was plane spotting at the airport when the landing happened at about 15:30 GMT, said: "I was just looking at the planes coming in when all of a sudden there were loads of blue lights coming in from the other end of the runway.

"That's when I saw the plane in the middle of the runway. I could hear on the radio that there was only one person on board and he was fine."

It was too early to say whether the accident had any bearing on the airworthiness of the other vintage aircraft.

A spokesman for the Air Accident Investigation Bureau said it would be looking into the circumstances of the incident.

He said: "We are aware of the incident and will be investigating it via correspondence.

"There will be a short report complied in due course."