LITCHFIELD – A Sabattus man taking off in an ultralight broke his leg when he crashed on takeoff.

Richard Bell’s newly purchased ultralight lost power before it went down nose-first and crashed in a ditch near a grass runway Wednesday. State police said Bell was taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta with a broken leg.

The recreational aircraft was about 30 feet in the air when it went down. Bell, 50, had just purchased the ultralight.