Dramatic moment plane crashes into sea at Kent airshow before crowds rush into the water to rescue trapped pilot

THIS is the dramatic moment a plane was forced to ditch into the sea at the Herne Bay Airshow in Kent after the pilot lost control in mid air.

The single-seater light aircraft landed in the water at around 3.30pm today just an hour after the RAF’s Red Arrows performed a stunning display.

People rushed onto the beach to help pull the aircraft out of the water concerned for  the pilot’s safety.

One onlooker told : “It just went into the water from a fairly low height and then flipped over. Then the rescue helicopter arrived.”

The coast guard and an air ambulance attended the scene as the show was put on hold.

No one is thought to have been injured in the crash which occurred after the pilot lost control and plunged into the water.

Another onlooker said: “It was flying quite low and I thought ‘he looks like he’s trying to land on the water’.

“Then the nose hit the surface of the sea and the plane flipped right over with the pilot upside down.”

Concerned spectators rushed to the pilot’s aid after he lost control of his plane in mid air

A section of the beach was cleared to allow a coastguard helicopter to land which remained cordoned off as they fish the plane out of the sea.

A Kent Police spokesman said that the Air Accidents Investigation Branch has been informed.

Safety at air shows was  stepped up in the wake of the Shoreham air disaster last year, where 11 people were killed and 16 injured when a Hawker Hunter aircraft plummeted into a busy road.

The Herne Bay Airshow is the biggest of its kind in Kent and regularly pulls in huge crowds.