A Canberra pilot has survived after crash landing a plane when home-made modifications forced him to shut down its engine shortly following take-off near Tumut, according to police.
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The 54-year-old man suffered non-life threatening back injuries on Saturday afternoon when he crash landed the plane in a paddock 800 metres from Tumut's airport at Bombowlee, west of Canberra.
Bystanders rushed to the pilot, who extricated himself from the aircraft and stayed on the ground.
Video recorded by a witness shows the pilot on the ground by the plane following the crash landing.
Police from Cootamundra Local Area Command arrived at the scene on Wee Jasper Road after being alerted to the incident at 5pm.
Cootamundra LAC acting inspector Michael Madgwick said the man was testing home-made modifications to the plane, and the engine was too heavy for the aircraft.
"It prevented him from getting a lot of lift. It caused the problem, and he shut it down," he said.
The pilot was a member of the Tumut Aero Club and regularly visited the airport at Bombowlee, Acting Inspector Madgwick said.
Police say if the pilot hadn't been so experienced, it would have been more serious.
The man received treatment from paramedics, who took him to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital.
He has been transferred to Canberra Hospital in a stable condition.
