THE survivor of a horrific plane crash has celebrated one of the happiest days of her life.

Louisa Caffrey, 29, of Bowerhill, Melksham, has just returned from a honeymoon in Majorca after marrying her former work colleague, Brendan.

Nearly nine years ago she survived a plane crash, in a two-seater plane, which killed the pilot instantly.

Mrs Caffrey, a former instructor for the Devizes squadron of the Air Training Corps, was on camp at St Athan in South Wales.

She said: "We crashed on August 26 1993 and it was my second flight of the day. We only missed a chemical hanger by three to four metres. If we had hit it there would have been a major disaster.

"I don't know how I survived it must have been God's will. I've seen the pictures and I know how lucky I am to be alive."

Although she escaped with her life, Mrs Caffrey was seriously injured. The plane's engine crushed her left foot, her jaw was fractured, and some of her teeth and bones in her hand were broken.

She has never fully recovered from the crash and is due to have another operation on her foot.

Despite her harrowing experience, she has never lost her love for flying and only left the air cadets when she became pregnant in 1998.

Mrs Caffrey said: "I met Brendan when we were both working for the Ministry of Defence in Corsham in 1989. It was a friendship that grew and now that I've married him I know that dreams can come true."