Pilot fought for control of UKIP plane

The light aircraft came down in Northamptonshire after an attempt to tow a UKIP advert- ising banner led to the tow line becoming wrapped around the tailplane, the report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said.

This caused the aircraft's nose to drop and although the pilot Justin Adams, 45, "maintained some control of the aircraft" he could not prevent it crashing at Hinton-in-the-Hedges Airfield on the morning of May 6, the report said.

Mr Farage, who was standing – ultimately unsuccessfully – against the Commons Speaker John Bercow in the constituency of Buckingham, suffered broken ribs, bruised lungs and facial injuries.

He was treated in hospital in Oxford and said afterwards: "I must be the luckiest man alive."

The AAIB said the aircraft had taken off from Hinton-in-the-Hedges to tow the banner, with Mr Farage in the passenger seat "intending to receive text messages from colleagues on the ground giving locations where the banner could be shown to maximum effect".

Four unsuccessful attempts were made to try to connect the banner to the aircraft, the report said.