A rescue helicopter has been assisting the recovery

The Piper Tomahawk two-seater plane crashed on the Elidir Fawr mountain above the Peris and Ogwen valleys just after 1500 BST on Thursday.

Pilot Steve Lovatt - who had to be cut free from the wreckage of the aircraft - is believed to have sustained some serious injuries but they are not life-threatening.

Roger Jones of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team: "It's absolutely remarkable that somebody can land an aircraft in Snowdonia and survive."

Mr Lovatt has been stretchered down the mountainside by hand to a low cloud base, and flown to Ysbty Gwynedd in Bangor.

Reports suggest that the plane had to make a forced landing - but rescue teams were hampered by mists and low clouds.

A major search got under way when the plane failed to turn up at Caernarfon Airport after taking off from Nottingham on Thursday morning.

Chief Flying Instructor at Nottingham Airport, Richard Flanagan, said the Nottingham-based pilot was experienced and had planned his journey well.

The first reports are that a walker heard an engine stop so it sounds like engine failure and he was forced to land. Richard Flanagan, Nottingham airport

"Exactly what happened we don't know," he said.

"The first reports are that a walker heard an engine stop so it sounds like engine failure and he was forced to land.

"It is down to his skill that he managed to land."

Ogwen Valley Mountain rescue team had 10 people, supported by Raf Valley 22 Squadron, searching a five mile radius of Bethesda.

Mountain walkers had reported hearing an aircraft followed by a loud bang.

The privately owned plane took off with one person on board at 0915 BST from its base at Nottingham Airport on Thursday.

It made a routine navigation call to Liverpool Airport Control 20 minutes later but then lost contact.