A French air force pilot is recovering after losing control of a Spitfire and flipping upside down in a spectacular crash at an air show in eastern France.

Squadron Leader Cédric Ruet, 43, was pulled from the inverted Mk XIX Spitfire with back and rib injuries after the French-owned aircraft nosed over during its take-off run at Longuyon aerodrome, near the Luxembourg border, on Sunday.

The Spitfire’s wheel dug into the grass runway during take-off, causing the plane to flip

An 18-year-old woman in the crowd was slightly injured on the shoulder by a fragment from a shattered propeller blade. A 48-year-old man also said that he had been hit in the leg by debris.

The Spitfire, originally delivered to the RAF in 1945, hit trouble when a wheel appeared to dig into the grass runway as power was applied and it accelerated for take-off. The tail rose and the propeller struck the ground, flipping the plane on to its back.

Spectators captured the moment on video, which has been watched widely on the internet. Members of the crowd helped to lift the aircraft, one of the last and biggest versions of the fighter, to enable Mr Ruet to escape without serious injury.

Mr Ruet, who goes by the call-sign Rut, is an experienced pilot who flies Rafale fighter-bombers. He has served as the jet’s chief demonstrator for potential export customers and is known as a display pilot of vintage military aircraft.

Spectators help to lift the aircraft and free the pilot

The damaged Spitfire, a fixture of air displays in France and Britain, was used by the Royal Thai air force in the late 1940s and rebuilt in California in the 1960s. It is one of about 50 Spitfires that are still airworthy. Owned by a private French collector, the aircraft has been badly damaged but is likely to be repaired.

Spitfires were notoriously tricky on take-off, especially on grass runways.