Photos: Flying Bum Plane Crashes

A £25million aircraft known as the “Flying Bum” has crash-landed at Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire just a week after its maiden flight.

The 320ft airship smashed into a telegraph pole and suffered damage to its cockpit as it “nose-dived” into the ground. In the video, the craft can be seen plunging slowly down to earth.

An eyewitness said: “A line that was hanging down from the plane hit the telegraph pole about two fields away. Then, as it came in to land, it seemed to nose dive and landed on the cockpit, smashing it up.” A spokesman for Hybrid Air Vehicles, the firm which made the Bum, said no-one was hurt during the crash.

“We’re debriefing following the second test flight this morning,” he said.

“All crew are safe and well and there are no injuries.”

The Bum Plane made its maiden voyage last Wednesday and is designed to carry a massive 10 tonne payload. It took 10 years and £25million to develop and build the craft, which is around 50ft longer than the biggest passenger plane.

The Bum Plane was first developed as a surveillance aircraft for the US government, but the project was scrapped.

It is designed to stay airborne for up to five days at a time and will be able to withstand wind speeds of up to 85 knots.