A HERO has described the moment he rushed to the scene of yesterday's plane crash and dragged a passenger to safety.

Demolition worker Paul Ferby was working at Cotswold Airport in Kemble when he witnessed a small plane fly off the runway, crash through the airport's perimeter fence, and hurtle over the busy A429 before landing in a ditch yesterday morning at 10.30am.

You can see Paul (bald in the black and blue) in the video stepping onto the plane, helping the two passengers out and directing traffic. 

He pushed down the aircraft’s plastic windshield with another member of the public and got both passengers out. 

Paul then ran to his work lorry to grab his fire extinguisher fearing an explosion at the crash site. 

“I don’t know what I was thinking at that moment,” said Paul, who lives in Cheltenham.

“You just switch off and it's one of those moments when you just try to help as much as you can. 

“My only concern was it all going up in flames as they were still trapped in there as there was fuel all over the road and still leaking out of the plane.

“There was another woman who arrived at the same time as me which I asked to call the police and to move their cars back.

“The airport fire crew turned up after about 10 minutes and then I left them to it."

Paul said the aircraft narrowly avoided hitting some other parked planes as well as traffic on the busy A429. 

“I think it was a lucky incident, I don't know what could’ve happened,, he said. 

“I thought the whole thing was going to catch fire.” 

It could have been a disaster but thankfully the road was clear and amazingly the pair from the aircraft only suffered minor injuries.

Although both the pilot and a passenger - were taken to hospital as a precaution. 

South Western Ambulance Service, Wiltshire police and UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch were all at the scene of the accident.

The Kemble road was closed in both directions for a number of hours to allow the cleanup of fuel and debris with emergency services having to use water hoses to remove fuel from the road. 

PC Paul Brewster from Wiltshire Police said: “The A429 is likely to be closed for some hours to allow investigators from the Air Accident Investigation Branch to attend the scene and for the carriageway to be made safe. 

“Thankfully no one was seriously injured or killed.

“We are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed this incident or who may have dash cam footage to contact us.”

A spokesperson for South Western Ambulance Service said: "We sent two double-crewed land ambulances, an operations officer, a rapid response vehicle, a critical care car and an air ambulance.

"We have conveyed one patient to Great Western Hospital and one patient to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, both by land ambulance."

Cotswold Airport said: “The airport and AV8 restaurant is closed due to an incident. Our heartfelt thanks go to the emergency services. Both passengers are okay.” 

The crash happened near Rapid Racking and Oaksey Garage in Kemble along the A429.

If you have any more information call Wiltshire police on 101 quoting log 109 and incident date 04/08.