Nigel Farage, the former Ukip leader, survived with minor head injuries after a small plane carrying a “Vote Ukip” banner crashed in Northamptonshire on the 6th of May 2010
The two-seater plane crashed landed near Brackley at Hinton-in-the-Hedges airstrip. Farage was rushed to Banbury’s Horton Hospital after witnesses saw him walk out of the plane covered in blood.
A hospital source verified Farage’s admission this morning, albeit there are contradictory claims about the degree of his injuries. “He’s going to be alright,” stated a Ukip spokeswoman.
Farage has been “drifting in and out of consciousness and is presently being X-rayed,” according to his agent, Chris Adams.
“Nigel was unconscious, but he can talk,” he added.
The pilot was more badly injured, suffering from back problems. After being ejected from the plane, he was transferred to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital.
The fixed-wing plane was found upside down in a field 20 metres from the airfield, with considerable damage.
The plane was carrying a banner that read, “Vote for your country, vote Ukip.” According to eyewitnesses, the banned became entangled in the plane’s tail fin.
“We’ve heard unsubstantiated information that either the banner got snagged up or there were cross-winds and it was an unfamiliar airfield to the pilot, who had to be cut out of the plane,” a Ukip spokeswoman said.
The plane took off from the Winchester region early this morning and flew into Hinton.
According to the official, the accident occurred as the plane was taking off again from Hinton. The plane was scheduled to fly over Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Northamptonshire.
“Short after 8 a.m., a light aircraft came down at Hinton in the Hedges airstrip near Brackley in Northamptonshire,” a Northamptonshire police spokesman said.
“There were two persons on board the plane, a pilot and a passenger, and both received what are believed to be minor injuries.”
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch is investigating the crash, which is being assisted by Northamptonshire police.
Farage, an MEP for the South East of England, is running against Speaker John Bercow in Buckingham. He stepped resigned as Ukip’s leader last year.