LINCOLN — The pilot of a small experimental plane escaped serious injury when a gust of wind caught his aircraft at Lincoln Regional Airport, flipped it forward onto its nose and then onto its back.

Pilot Brian Souers was landing the Glasair 1 just before 3 p.m. on Sunday when the wind took him by surprise and pushed him off the runway.

Firefighters treated him at the scene for some minor cuts and bruises and police took a report that will be passed on to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The plane had damage to its nose and propeller, a cracked cockpit canopy and a break at the top of its tail. Souers tells the Bangor Daily News it can be repaired.