A young British man has died after his plane crashed on farmland in southern Spain.
The 26-year-old is believed to have died instantly, after the light aircraft came down in a field by a main road near the town of Pinzon, 25 miles south of Seville.
The Brit, who has not yet been named, was the sole occupant of the plane, which had taken off from nearby Jerez Airport.
Local reports say he was a pupil at Fly-in-Spain, one of the two training schools based at the airport.
The tragic accident occurred around 12.15pm yesterday.
A witness phoned the emergency services to say the plane had crashed onto farmland 300 metres from the SE-9020 road which runs between Pinzon and the nearby town of Los Palacios and Villafranca.
Police, firefighters and paramedics were mobilised but could do nothing to save the pilot, who was pronounced dead at the scene after his body was removed from the wreckage.
Footage showed the aircraft spinning dangerously out of control as it plunged towards the ground.
An onlooker could be heard yelling: “It’s going to crash.”
A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Seville confirmed the man who died was a British national but said he ”didn’t have any more information about him."
The spokesman added: “He was accumulating flight hours in order to upgrade his flight certification.
"The dead man was the sole pilot of the light aircraft.
“The police probe is being conducted by Civil Guard investigators in Lebrija who will file a report on the incident to a local court when it is completed.”
An office manager at Fly-in-Spain, who declined to give her full name, added: “The Civil Guard are still investigating and have told us not to say anything.
“We are in contact with the family of the man that lost his life.”
Fly-in-Spain, which describes itself on social media as one of the leading flight training schools in southern Spain with “over two decades of consecutive operations and satisfied clients” has yet to make any official comment.
Separate investigations are now underway, one by the Civil Guard which is the police force probing the accident, and another by the Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (CIAIAC) which is the Spanish national agency responsible for air traffic investigation.
A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency services coordination centre confirmed: “The sole occupant of a light aircraft has died after his plane crashed over a rural area near to Utrera in the municipality of Seville.
“The accident occurred at 12.15pm yesterday with a witness alerting the emergency services to the spot where the plane came down which was a field 300 metres from the SE-9020 road near the town of Pinzon.
“Paramedics were mobilised along with firefighters, Civil Guard, and an environmental officer who was in the area when the accident happened.”
The plane is said to have started leaking fuel after coming down, sparking a fire risk which the emergency responders also had to deal with.
Police sources told local media the flight had been registered and previously programmed in line with standard procedure.
