Two men escaped with minor injuries after their light aircraft crashed after taking off from a small airfield near Newport.
The pilot and passenger walked away from the two-seater KIS Cruiser, which then caught fire.
Gwent Police said the aircraft tried to make an emergency landing after taking off from Upfield Farm, Whitson at 1140 BST en route for Filton near Bristol.
One resident said the incident happened close to homes and the village hall.
Gwent Police said the single-engine plane is thought to have caught fire after landing in a field by a roadside in Whitson.
Two men from the aircraft, both from Usk in Monmouthshire, were treated by paramedics at the scene for minor injuries.
They did not require hospital treatment.
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said the plane was badly damaged in the fire.
The aircraft was covered in a blanket of foam by fire crews.
A villager, who did not want to be named, said the first they had heard was sirens.
"It had gone quite low because it hit the electricity wires and they are down.
"It came down right against the road and it just missed the stables, you could see a pillar of smoke."
The villager said police had cordoned off the scene and she believed the aircraft had missed the village hall by around six yards.
She said there a smell of burning plastic in the area.
According to the villager, there was no-one in the hall at the time but someone had been working in the nearby stables.
"It could have been dreadful, there are lots of houses clustered around."
A Gwent Police spokesman said: "The police and fire service remain at the scene to ensure the safe removal of the remains of the aircraft."
The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) have been called in.
Two people were killed in a light aircraft crash five miles away, just over a year ago.
The earlier incident happened at Magor.
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