BANDUNG

A pilot was seriously injured when he crashed a plane while performing a low-altitude stunt at an air show in Bandung, West Java, on Friday.

Thousands of people, including children from local kindergartens, watched on in horror as the Super Decathlon plane smashed into the ground and burst into flames at Husein Sastranegara Air Base in Bandung.

“The pilot failed to control the aircraft during an aerobatic manoeuvre at low altitude. The plane hit the ground and caught fire,” Air Force spokesman Bambang Samudro said.

“The pilot is in intensive care at a hospital with serious injuries,” he said.

The single-prop plane belonged to the Indonesian Aero Sports Federation and the pilot had won second place at an international aerobatics championship in Australia in 1997.

The air show was being held to celebrate the city’s 200th anniversary.