TWO crew members of a light aircraft from Pocklington, near York, had a lucky escape when their plane crashed into a field after colliding with power lines.

The light plane from the Wolds Gliding Club in Pocklington was found on its roof when police officers arrived at the scene in a field on the eastern outskirts of Thorne, near Doncaster, at 6.45 last night.

One of the two male crew members received a slight head injury, but neither required hospital treatment.

The pilot was from Cleveland and his co-pilot was from Northamptonshire.

Inspector Bill Davidson, of South Yorkshire Police, said the plane was flying over the field to check on two club members who had landed their glider during a long-distance competition after losing height due to lack of thermals.

Another glider from the club had landed safely hours earlier in a farmer's field near Armthorpe. Its two crew members were recovered by a truck.

Insp Davidson said: "The plane struck the power cables and landed on its roof in the field. It seems the two crew members had a very lucky escape. They were badly shaken.

"We have now handed the investigation over to the Civil Aviation Authority air investigation branch who are looking into the matter today."

Members of the Wolds club were at the scene today to help with the investigation. The plane was expected to be recovered later today.

The two-man gliding crew was taking part in day four of the Two Seater Competition 2000. It was among 45 teams attempting to travel as far as they could across a period of eight days.

The incident follows another lucky escape this week at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, when a Tucano training plane made a forced landing after its undercarriage got stuck.