THE pilot of a parachute plane who died after a crash at Headcorn Aerodrome near Maidstone on Sunday has been identified.

He was 36-year-old Steven Davis who had been trapped in the cockpit of the de Havilland Beaver single-engined aircraft. He was taken to the Royal London Hospital where he died from his injuries.

The aircraft had been carrying eight parachutists. It was taking off on a lift shortly after 4pm when it slewed across the runway and smashed into a static vintage aircraft.

Jane Buckle, manager of Headcorn Parachute Club, said Mr Davis had worked at the club for only a month. He was a fully-experienced pilot with a commercial licence.

One of the passengers was badly hurt and he is being treated at Maidstone Hospital. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

The South East Coast Ambulance Service said a third patient, an 18-year-old girl suffering from shock, was also taken to Maidstone Hospital.

Fire crews from Tenterden, Maidstone, Ashford and Marden were called to the scene.

One onlooker on Sunday, Paul Jones, whose family home is in Otford, near Sevenoaks, was booking a flight in a Tiger Moth when the accident happened.

Mr Jones, a pilot himself, said: "When the plane came to rest, the aircraft nose cone and engine had broken away and dropped to the ground. The firemen were there very quickly and helped to get the pilot out."

He said the parachutists on board were helped out, some of them "hobbling" and the Kent Air Ambulance had been on the scene in minutes. Three appliances, a water unit and a foam unit attended the incident.

The tragedy is being investigated by the Air Accident Investigation Branch.