The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has published a report into an accident where a Duxford pilot was seriously injured.
The pilot took off from Duxford Airfield on July 6 last year, heading to the annual Heveningham Country Fair at Heveningham Hall in Suffolk.
During the landing on a grass runway at the private airstrip, the aircraft - a Grumman FM2, Wildcat (G-KINL) from 1942 - took a nosedive and came to rest inverted.
According to the report, it is believed the surface of the runway had a solid crust on top of a softer sub-soil that the aircraft dug into - causing it to nose over.
The pilot, a 63-year-old man, was seriously injured.
Aware of the aircraft's tail rising, the pilot had braced for impact, leaning his head forward and bracing himself as low as possible in the cockpit.
The impact crushed the cockpit into him and forced his head and shoulders to the right of the cockpit.
Ground crew helped the pilot out of the aircraft through a hole in the Perspex canopy, and gave him first aid before he was taken to hospital by air ambulance.
The pilot - an experienced flier of vintage aircraft - had never landed a Wildcat at the Heveningham Country Fair before, but had landed other aircraft there in previous years.
He said that had he known the runway would potentially be soft, he would have taken the Wildcat's narrow tyres into account when landing.
A statement from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch said: "The correctly adjusted and worn harness and protective helmet afforded protection to the pilot.
"This, along with his ability to anticipate what was about to happen and crouch down as far as possible, prevented a more serious outcome."
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Following the accident, the event organisers are planning to implement additional operational coordination and risk management measures for future events.
The aircraft had been based at Duxford following its restoration, and was accompanied on its flight by a Rallye Minerva aircraft to help with landing and to take the pilot back to Duxford afterwards.
The Minerva landed on the runway before the Wildcat without incident.
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