The Spitfire is pushed off the runway after it crash-landed at East Midlands airport near Derby. Photograph: Darren Staples/Reuters A second world war Spitfire has crash-landed at an airport. The aeroplane was coming in to land at East Midlands airport, where it is based, when the undercarriage collapsed as it touched down, leaving the aircraft beached on the runway. The pilot was unhurt and the airport's fire and rescue teams dealt with the crash and the evacuation. Edward Coxon, from Hartshorne in Derbyshire, who was plane-spotting at the airport near Derby, told the BBC: "I was just looking at the planes coming in when, all of a sudden, there were loads of blue lights coming in from the other end of the runway. That's when I saw the plane in the middle of the runway. I could hear on the radio that there was only one person on board and he was fine. The runway was closed because of the incident, which happened at 3.19pm on Monday, and flights were suspended while the plane was recovered and safety checks were made. An airport spokesman said: "All inbound flights were diverted and outbound flights were suspended. During that time, seven aircraft were diverted to Birmingham airport. The runway was reopened at 6pm after the aircraft was removed and the runway inspected for any debris. Investigators will examine the Spitfire, which belongs to Rolls-Royce, to establish the cause of the accident.