Pilot escapes uninjured from plane crash at Parafield Airport in Adelaide

A student pilot who walked away from a fiery plane crash uninjured on Monday says he wants to fly again.

The small Cessna slammed into the runway and caught fire at Parafield Airport in Adelaide’s north about 12.30pm.

The 21-year-old trainee pilot quickly jumped out before the blaze really took hold, destroying the plane and spreading to nearby grass.

“I feel lucky,” he told reporters of the incident.

“I just want to practise more and fly better and ... next time will be better.

“It’s a bit sad to lose the plane I’ve been flying like 20 hours (in), but I just want to move on, just want to learn more.”

He was on his first solo circuit of the day when the emergency occurred.

He said he was travelling slower than usual on approach to the runway and tried to adjust his speed before touching down “quite hard”.

The pilot was the only person on the plane.

He was unhurt but was taken to a nearby medical clinic as a precaution.

Pictures from 7NEWS showed flames and thick black smoke billowing from the plane before the emergency was controlled at the general aviation and training airport.

Shocked onlookers had feared the worst and Sherman Anthoney, from the Adelaide Aviation flight school, said the trainee was “very lucky”.

“(The crash is) something that you read about in your books and you watch on YouTube, you hear about from your instructor, but nothing can prepare you for an emergency until you face it,” he said.

No other planes were involved in the incident.

Parafield Airport said runway 21L remains closed but its other three runways are operational.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau have been notified of the emergency and is investigating.