Spitfire: Second World War fighter plane crashes in Kent, but pilot and passenger 'uninjured'

Sunday, 4 May 2025 17:03

A Second World War Spitfire fighter plane has crashed in a field in Kent.

The plane, owned by Fly A Spitfire, went down "in the vicinity of Hythe on 03/05/2025 (Saturday)", the company said in a statement on its website.

In a statement, the firm said: "We are aware of an incident involving one of our Spitfire aircraft.

"We can confirm that a precautionary landing was made at a non-airfield site. The pilot and passenger are uninjured and at this stage we have no further information."

Witnesses told local media the plane "misfired above a caravan park" and "narrowly" missed trees before it crashed in a field.

Video of the incident showed the plane heading towards the ground, but no evidence of an explosion was filmed.

The crash happened in the build-up to the VE Day 80th anniversary celebrations, but although some reports said the plane was rehearsing for them, this has not been confirmed.

Fly A Spitfire, which charges between £450 and £1,800 for an outing in one of its aircraft, said its Spitfire flight operations "will continue as planned".

Read more:
What VE Day was really like
Ukraine troops join VE Day procession
How to watch VE Day flypast

This Thursday, 8 May, marks exactly 80 years since victory in Europe following the Second World War, was declared.

Thousands of people are expected to line the streets of central London on Monday to see a military procession and a flypast as well as a performance of Sir Winston Churchill's 1945 victory address, read by actor Timothy Spall, who played Britain's wartime leader in the 2010 film, The King's Speech.

Spitfires played a huge role in the eventual victory during the Battle of Britain, by "defending British airspace against the German Luftwaffe from July to October 1940," Spitfires.com said.

Sky News