A CROP dusting pilot who caught fire in a plane crash on Friday was saved by a passing water tanker driver.
The 21-year-old pilot had a miraculous escape after his Cessna crashed into a paddock near Cressy and caught fire, the Hobart Mercury reports.
Inspector Darren Hopkins said the NSW pilot was wearing a firesuit but his face and hands were on fire before the water tanker driver put out the flames.
The owner of the destroyed 1967 plane was nearby and took the pilot to Longford where an ambulance met them.
Insp Hopkins told the Hobart Mercury the pilot was taken to the Launceston General Hospital with burns and was in a stable condition.
Pieces of the wrecked $80,000 plane were strewn across a 100m area.
The plane had not long taken off from a nearby property when the pilot experienced difficulties. It lost altitude and hit the ground nose first, exploding and igniting fuel from the ruptured tank.
