Horror at Avalon Air present as airplane hurtles to the bottom in entrance of shocked onlookers

A pilot is fighting for life after his plane crashed into the ground in front of thousands of shocked onlookers at an air show.

The crowd at the Avalon Airshow in Victoria were watching a performance by the Sky Aces Formation Aerobatic Team on Friday at about 5.15pm when one of the aircraft hurtled to the ground during a manoeuvre.

Organisers later announced through a loudspeaker that the pilot was alive, met with cheers from onlookers, but they added that he remained in a critical condition.

He has since been airlifted to hospital. 

An eyewitness from Melbourne, Matthew, told Daily Mail Australia he couldn’t believe his eyes at what unfolded.

‘The orange plane was doing a loop and didn’t pull up. He just went straight into the ground,’ he said.

‘I said to my mate before coming I had a bad feeling a plane would crash and then it happened.’

He said the crowd had been keen to watch the father and son team perform at the show.

An eyewitness at Avalon Airshow told Daily Mail Australia the plane was doing a loop and didn’t pull up

A Melbourne man was at the airshow and said the plane that crashed was doing a loop separately from the other three planes

The crowd at the Avalon Airshow in Victoria were watching a performance by the Sky Aces Formation Aerobatic Team on Friday afternoon

‘The crowd just fell silent. It was weird. I think most people were watching the other three planes which were doing separate acrobatics.

‘The one that crashed was doing a loop separately from the other three planes. If he had another 2-3 meters he would have made it.’

Two emergency vehicles could be seen driving to the incident and Victoria Police said officers responded to the crash.

‘Emergency services were called to reports the plane, which was conducting a demonstration during an air show, had lost control and crashed into the tarmac about 5.15pm,’ the statement said.

‘The pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft sustained serious injuries.

‘The incident occurred a significant distance away from spectators and there have been no reports of further injuries.

‘The exact circumstance surrounding the crash are yet to be determined.’

The rest of today’s flights at the airshow have been cancelled.