Chocks away! Light aircraft pilot makes lucky escape after crashing plane in fishing lake

This pilot, having narrowly escaped death by crash landing his plane in a carp-filled lake, coolly sat on the submerged cockpit to enjoy the evening sun.

The scene was photographed on Wednesday evening by an astonished fisherman sitting near by.

Down and out: A pilot peaches on his crashed plane as he waits for rescue services to help him return to dry land

Eddie Ricketts, 55, said: 'I heard this strange rumbling like the sound the spaceships make in the Star Wars films. I looked up and saw something coming towards the water – at first I thought it was a car, then I realised it was a plane.

Helping hand: A fire crew approach on a canoe

'It made a sound like a big bit of wood in a wood chipper machine – which was it going through the hedge – and then it went into the lake.'

Luckily for the 59-year-old pilot, the lake, at Rushy Lane Fisheries near Bradford Leigh in Wiltshire, is just 4ft 6in deep.

He was able to climb out of the Piper single-engined aircraft and sit on the cockpit roof while calmly awaiting rescue.

Rescue: The pilot finally leaves his ditched plane

Wiltshire fire brigade brought the pilot – believed to be from West London – back to land in an inflatable raft.

He was then taken to Trowbridge Hospital, but was discharged that evening.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said the pilot had lost power and had to make an emergency landing. 'It was a very lucky escape,' he added.

The Air Accident Investigations Branch is to start an inquiry. 

Heck, a wreck: But an angler fishes on