A pilot who suffered a cardiac arrest shortly after his light aircraft landed at an airfield near Malmesbury is recovering in hospital thanks to rapid care from bystanders backed up by ambulance paramedics.

The 63-year-old man was at the controls of the aircraft on Sunday afternoon when he started to feel unwell. He was able to land the aircraft safely at Oaksey Airfield, but seconds after the plane touched down he went into cardiac arrest.

Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) received a 999 call at 4.07pm reporting the incident. A paramedic in a rapid response vehicle and an ambulance crew were immediately dispatched, while the Wiltshire Air Ambulance with two paramedics on board also flew to the scene, backed up by an incident officer.

While ambulance clinicians were en-route, the GWAS call-handler stayed on the line to the 999 caller providing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) advice to bystanders, including the patient’s co-pilot on board the plane.

Louise Cox, one of the paramedics in the Wiltshire Air Ambulance said: “The bystanders began immediately administering good quality CPR, despite the difficult conditions given that the patient was still in the small aircraft.

“Our paramedic in the RRV took over as soon as he arrived and we were on scene soon afterwards to support him. We successfully resuscitated the patient on scene, allowing us to transport him to Great Western Hospital by helicopter in just 10 minutes – meaning he was receiving specialist cardiac care in hospital less than an hour after the 999 call.

“This was a textbook case of how good quality CPR in the first vital minutes of a cardiac arrest, backed up by professional clinicians and rapid transport to hospital all combined to give the patient the best possible chance of a successful outcome.

“The latest information is that the patient is awake, talking to his relatives and making a good recovery – which is excellent news.”