The rapid and aggressive actions of firefighters who tackled a burning plane after a crash at Birmingham Airport have been commended as dramatic pictures were released showing the aftermath.

Two men were injured, one seriously, after a Cessna light aircraft travelling from Belfast and carrying a donated liver for transplant crashlanded and exploded into flames.

The 58-year-old pilot was critically injured and airlifted to the University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire, while a second man in the plane, believed to be in his 30s, suffered flash burns to his body and a back injury and was taken by ambulance to Heartlands Hospital.

A Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance pilot braved the burning wreckage to cut the fuel supply while the airport fire crew battled the blaze.

West Midlands Fire Service operations commander for Solihull Jim Sinnott has applauded the actions of the fire crew.

He said: “The rapid and aggressive fire fighting action taken by the airport fire service made this a survivable crash.

“These incidents are very, very rare but when they occur you need highly professional and skilled firefighters — Birmingham Airport certainly have these.

“All emergency services swung into action and supported the airport to achieve the best possible outcome.”

A medical container carrying the human liver was also rescued from the plane and taken by police through thick fog to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, allowing a successful four-hour transplant operation to be carried out on a patient hours after the crash at 3.30pm on Friday.

It was the sixth liver transplant to be carried out at the hospital in five days, according to staff.

Eighty flights and thousands of people were affected as the runway was shut until noon on Saturday.