Fife pilot cheats death when light aircraft flips over.

Aircraft’s wing clipped a combine harvester as it was on its final approach

A pensioner pilot cheated death yesterday after his plane crashed in a field in Fife.

Stewart Russell escaped with only minor injuries after his light aircraft clipped a combine harvester and flipped on to its roof as he attempted to land on his private airstrip.

Emergency services were scrambled to Pilmuir Farm, on the outskirts of Lundin Links, shortly after 11am, with the 75-year-old transferred to Ninewells Hospital for treatment.

His brother, George Russell, who stays at a neighbouring farm, said he had been alerted to his sibling’s plight by a relative.

“It was a nice day and he’s just been going up in his plane.

“I believe the wind was picking up as he landed and the wing tip clipped a combine harvester.”

Mr Russell said his brother was an experienced pilot who kept his own plane at the family farm.

Neighbours said he would fly the Piper Super Cub several times a week, using a grass airstrip located at the back of the property.

A cordon was established around the site, with a 200-metre exclusion zone enforced because of fears of a fuel leak.

Mr Russell was conscious as paramedic teams arrived at the scene, having made his own way out of the plane after it had come to rest on its roof.

Two fire engines from Methil and the heavy rescue tender from Macalpine Road in Dundee were summoned at around 11.15am, although the latter was stood down as it became clear no one was trapped in the wreckage.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), meanwhile, has said it will investigate the incident.

A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We received a call to attend an incident involving a light aircraft at Lundin Links, Fife, at 11.00 hours.

“One male patient in his seventies was taken to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee by emergency ambulance.”

I believe the wind was picking up as he landed and the wing tip clipped a combine harvester. GEORGE RUSSELL BROTHER OF PILOT

Pictures: Kris Miller. Stewart Russell, pictured here beside his plane, walked away from the wreckage.

The Piper Super Cub on its roof in the field.