A few seconds into the video the cat can be seen crawling along the wing before putting its head into the cockpit.

Shock as cat appears on the wing during flight

A stowaway cat has made national headlines after appearing on the wing of a microlight plane as it flew hundreds of feet above the ground.

Pilot Romain Jantot got "the fright of his life" when he spotted the cat sitting on the wing of the plane.

"All pilots have stringent safety checks they must carry out before each and every flight - looking for stray cats hidden inside the wing isn't one of them."

The moment was caught on camera and posted on YouTube. Initially the cat is not visible but a few seconds into the video it can be seen crawling along the wing before putting its head into the cockpit, much to the apparent shock of the pilot and passenger.

Mr Jantot landed the plane as quickly as possible, bringing the slightly bemused feline back to level ground.

Image: © Romain Jantot/YouTube