A vintage Royal Navy aircraft crashed at an air show in Britain today killing the two pilots on board, a fire service spokesman said.
The Firefly crashed away from the spectator area during a display at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, the spokesman added. The Fairey Firefly first saw service in World War Two and served in the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm through the 1950s.
Video footage showed the small aircraft entering a dive and hitting the ground in a cloud of dust and smoke as it tried to pull out.
The crash was witnessed by thousands of people on the ground. The plane seen apparently flying quite normally in sunny clear conditions before it turned upside down without warning and then nose-dived into a field close to the M11 but well away from spectators.
Mr Graham Boyd from the video company told Sky News: "It went into a rolling movement. The pilot appeared to be struggling to regain control but didn't have enough height to recover and the aircraft plunged into the ground."
Agencies