A 61 year old man has been seriously injured after his light aircraft crashed on take-off at the Axarquia airfield.
The pilot, the sole occupant of the plane, suffered head wounds when the plane hit the ground as he tried to take off. He was conscious when medics arrived on the scene and was rushed by air ambulance to the Carlos Haya hospital in Málaga.
The plane, an amateur-built non-commercial craft with standard registration, crashed into an empty field about 200 metres from the airfield near El Trapiche. The tanks of the plane ruptured and, with the engine still running, fire precautions had to be taken. Firemen rescued the pilot from the wreck.