Pilot Steve Laver who is recovering from plane crash injuries said he owes his life to the speed at which the Wiltshire Air Ambulance whisked him to hospital.

On April 12 2006 Mr Laver, 51, was at the controls of a Pegasus micro light aircraft when it crashed at the Clench Common airstrip near Marlborough.

One of the steel cables supporting the wings broke free wrapping itself around the propellor.

Despite his huge experience, including running flights for tourists over the Victoria Falls in Africa, he was unable to regain control of the stricken plane.

It crashed through the roof of a barn, smashing the asbestos roof and concrete beams.

Passenger Julian Davis from Bristol, who was in his 30's, was thrown clear and sustained relatively minor ankle and arm injuries.

Mr Laver was trapped in the wreckage until fire fighters cut him free.

He was so badly injured it was feared he would not live and he was airlifted by the Wiltshire Air Ambulance to the Great Western Hospital.

His injuries included his back broken in three places; his neck broken also in three places; head injuries; two broken legs; smashed feet and broken arm.

He was in a coma for seven weeks in the hospital's intensive care unit.

A subsequent air accident investigation found that vital steel cables that keep aircraft rigid had been fitted with inferior ferrules.

Mr Laver said he had no recollection of the accident but was aware that he owed his life to the speed with which the air ambulance got him to hospital.

"Basically it saved my life," said Mr Laver who spent ten years flying tourists over the Victoria Falls logging 17,000 hours in the air without incident..

"I think there is very little chance I would have survived without the air ambulance and its paramedics and the speed with which it took me to the hospital."

Mr Laver said: "The hospital actually called in my relatives because they did not think I could survive."

He started flying as a teenager with the Air Training Corps in his native Kent.

He progressed through hang gliders in the early days of the sport before getting a licence to fly light aircraft.

Following his accident he was unconscious for so long that when he came round his broken arm had healed.

However the injuries to his left foot were so severe and have not healed properly and there is still a chance he may have to have it amputated.

Mr Laver has to use crutches to walk and has been grounded from taking the controls himself.

However before his licence was suspended because of his injuries he did make one more flight. "I made sure I went solo a year to the day after the accident," he said.

Flying is still his passion however and he is building a replica of a Fokke-Wulf fighter-bomber like those by the German air force with deadly effect in World War 2.

"I live in the hope of flying again," said Mr Laver.

"It's the only reason I get up in the morning."