HE walked away from the wreckage of his aircraft with just a cut to his head.

Today, pilot Mike Watts was recovering in hospital after an incredible escape when his light aircraft crashed into a field.

Despite the impact, his only physical injury was a gashed face, which left blood on the fuselage.

He managed to phone the emergency services himself and also summoned help from his son, Owen Watts.

Speaking to the Daily Echo yesterday at the crash site, Owen confirmed his father was the pilot.

Ambulance Following the crash on Sunday evening, Mr Watts was taken by ambulance to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester Mike, 50, who is from the Winchester area, was later transferred to Southampton General Hospital, said a spokeswoman at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

Owen told the Daily Echo: "My dad is fine, but he's shaken. He is still in hospital.

"He's had an adrenalin rush but he will be OK.

"We don't yet know what went wrong. We could speculate, but we just don't know."

He said his father was an experienced pilot, adding: "He has been around aeroplanes a very long time and has been flying for years. He did well to get it down.

"He got out, phoned the emergency services and me. The ambulance was here very quickly. The fire service and police were here but there was nothing for them to do."

The plane, an Evans single-seater ultralight, crash-landed in a field close to the Farley Mount monument, west of Winchester.

It had taken off from an airstrip about a mile to the south at Farley Farm, near Braishfield.

Owen and a colleague yesterday dismantled the plane, which only weighs about 300kg, and were removing it in pieces.

Following the crash at about 6.10pm on Sunday, two fire engines from Winchester and a Land Rover from Eastleigh attended. A spokesman for the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said the crash had been reported but it was too early to say whether there would be a full investigation.