Red Arrow pilots in mid-air crash

A RED Arrows jet was almost destroyed in a mid-air collision during a training exercise today.

The pilot managed to eject before the plane crashed on Crete. He was taken to hospital with head and shoulder injuries.

Nine aircraft were training when the jet came down at Kastelli military airbase. The other member of the RAF aerobatic team involved in the collision landed safely.

The injured pilot was taken to Venizelos hospital, in the capital Heraklion, where he was being kept in "for precautionary reasons".

Witnesses said the planes touched wings before the crash.