A CLUB comedian badly hurt in an air crash bravely traded jokes with rescuers using their bare hands to free him from the wreckage of his light aircraft.

Brian Newbold, 49, was lucky to be alive after his craft clipped power lines and crashed to earth seconds before he was due to land at Breighton airfield near Selby.

Mr Newbold, 49, of Hexthorpe, near Doncaster, was taken to York District Hospital by ambulance with a police escort, suffering from "serious internal injuries". He was said to be poorly but stable today.

The drama began when two men on the tarmac at Breighton, a former RAF bomber base, heard a bang and saw the four-seater plan spin round and plummet into a nearby cornfield.

After running almost half a mile, Nigel Ponsford, 54, and Harry Sawdon, 61, used bare hands to tear their way through the wreckage to reach the badly-injured pilot.

Paramedics and the flying doctor also attended the incident, which happened yesterday at 11.30am.

Harry, a retired aircraft worker from Hull, who was staying at a caravan site on the airfield, said: "When I got to Brian's plane I thought it was curtains.

"It was totally wrecked, upside down and the cockpit was smashed in. There was a smell of fuel and the power line was down and I thought at any moment the thing would burst into flames.

"Brian was suspended upside down in his harness and Nigel and I had to isolate the electrics and bend away the control column to get to him.

"He was trapped in his seat, but after releasing him we were able to pull him to safety through the tangled wreckage. It was a race against time.

"Throughout his ordeal Brian, who was badly injured, managed to crack jokes. I can't remember any specifically but he was talking about dying in a humorous way and tried to raise a laugh."

Police said Mr Newbold was preparing to land his Piper Tritacer PA22 plane when he caught the power lines, lost control and hurtled 100ft to the ground. He was less than 200 yards from the start of the runway.

The plane landed on its roof in a barley field, 120 metres from the airfield.

His wife, who watched the crash from the airfield, accompanied him to hospital.

Officers from the Air Accident Investigation Bureau have begun an investigation into the accident.

Sgt Albert Johnson of Goole police said: "He was unlucky to have come down in the first place but someone up there must have been smiling on him for him to have survived this. A few broken bones can soon mend.

"We don't know yet whether it was error of judgement or mechanical failure."

Harry said Brian was "a very funny man." He had previously worked for the National Coal Board but took up after dinner speaking and was a club circuit comedian.

An ambulance spokesman said: "He is lucky to be alive. The men who pulled him clear did a magnificent job."

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