A pilot and passenger miraculously escaped uninjured after their plane crashed into a ski lift cable in Italy.

The 62-year-old pilot was thrown clear and escaped, but his 55-year-old passenger was left trapped inside the cockpit of the upside-down plane.

Dramatic footage taken by rescue teams shows him sitting on the wing as a rescuer edges towards him along the cable.

The drama happened at the Prato Valentino ski resort at Teglio, north of Milan, in the Italian alps, on Sunday afternoon.

Mountain rescue teams were joined by firefighters and police for the complex operation to reach the stranded man, which took almost two hours.

Officials said the plane had taken off from a nearby airfield for a sightseeing flight when it lost power and crashed into the ski lift cable.

Mountain rescue spokesman Walter Milan said: “They were both very lucky, really. If the plane had crashed into the ground, the ending could have been very different.”

“It was a complicated rescue operation involving many services, but ultimately it was successful, which was the main thing.”

“Neither of the men were injured but they were very shocked.”

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