A PILOT has been taken to hospital after his plane crashed north of Melbourne.

The man in his 60s was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital after crawling from the wreckage in Doreen, the Herald Sun reports.

The small hobby aircraft took off from Yan Yean but went down in an empty field just before 3pm after a mechanical failure.

The man had cuts and bruises and was suffering from shock.

Read more at the Herald Sun