INVESTIGATORS are at the scene of plane wreckage after a light aircraft plummeted from the sky and crashed.

Teams from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) are gathering evidence at the crash site as they begin to probe the cause of the incident yesterday.

Two men, including the pilot and a passenger, were airlifted to the hospital after the plane came down in a field in Titch Hill near Steyning at about 1pm on Friday.

Pictures taken from the scene show the scale of the wreckage, with the aircraft seen to have broken in half from the force of the impact.

The plane is understood to have been declared a mayday, due to engine failure and force-landed in the field.

The Argus:

A spokesman from Sussex Police said: "At 1pm on Friday emergency services responded to reports that a light aircraft had crashed on open downland at Titch Hill between Steyning and Wiston in West Sussex.

"There were reported to be two men in the aircraft, pilot and passenger, who received medical attention at the scene.

"They were then being taken by air ambulance to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and their conditions were initially assessed as serious.

"The Air Accident Investigation Branch has been informed and will be attending the scene."

An eyewitness described how she saw the aircraft disappear from view before hearing a "loud thump".

Laura Safont had been walking with her friend Adrian Hart between Findon and Steyning when she saw the plane coming down.

She said: "We saw the plane flying dangerously low when it disappeared behind a hill, heard a loud thump and then called the police.

The Argus:

"It was obviously quite a surprise but both Adrian and I were simply concerned for the passengers.

"After it came down, we saw two planes circling and then a helicopter arrived."

The crash took place almost four miles north-west of Shoreham Airport, where a former military aircraft crashed during an aerial display in 2015, killing 11 people.

A spokeswoman from Shoreham Airport air traffic control said that the aircraft was not based in Shoreham and was just transiting.

She said: "The aircraft declared a mayday, due to engine failure and force-landed in a field near Steyning.

"The air ambulance was in the area and redirected to the site; we understand that the pilot and his passenger were taken to hospital."