Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond is in a critical condition in hospital after a crash in a jet-powered car while filming for the programme.
The presenter, 36, was taken by air ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary which has a special neurological unit.
A North Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesman said he was unconscious when they got to the scene and a hospital spokesman described him as "critical".
The Top Gear shoot was under way at Elvington airfield in north Yorkshire.
The airfield is a former RAF base.
Inspector Mike Thompson, of North Yorkshire Police said: "At 5.45pm this evening we received a report via the fire service of a male person trapped in what was described as an overturned jet car which had been driven on the airfield.
"The male occupant has received serious injuries and has been airlifted to hospital at Leeds."
Former Top Gear presenter Quentin Wilson said the presenter was "irreplaceable".
He said: "He is a wonderful, unique and distinctive Top Gear presenter.
"He has brought an awful lot to the programme and his indefatigable energy, the fact that he tries absolutely anything once, may have been the reason that he has overstepped the mark a bit.
"He has turned Top Gear into a gang show with Jeremy and James and the three of them have wowed audiences all over the world and he is an international personality."
The presenter was born in Birmingham, educated in Yorkshire and lives near Cheltenham.
In addition to presenting Top Gear for the BBC, he also fronted Brainiac on Sky One until recently.
Update! Sky News Reports Top Gear's Richard Hammond Driving Vampire Jet Car At 280 Mph (440 km/h) At Time Of Accident
Sky News is reporting Top Gear's Richard Hammond was:
"...reportedly driving a jet-powered Vampire car when it overturned. Mr Hammond was said to have been reaching speeds of up to 280mph as the accident happened."
The Vampire, sponsored by the Swedish company Thule, weighs 2,200 lbs, is 30 feet long and drinks 7-10 gallons of fuel per mile (depending on the speed). The jet-car accelerates from 0 to 272 mph in six seconds and is powered by a Rolls Royce Orpheus jet engine and is theoretically capable of 370mph. The Vampire holds the "Outright British Land Speed Record" with a blistering fast 300.3mph.
"Firefighter Dave Ogden, who witnessed the crash, told Sky News that the 36-year-old presenter was able to speak as he was taken out of the wreckage of the car.
Inspector Mike Thompson, of North Yorkshire Police, said officers were dealing with the incident at the airfield northeast of York where the filming was taking place.
He said: "At 5.45pm this evening we received a report via the fire service of a male person trapped in what was described as an overturned jet car which had been driven on the airfield.
"The male occupant has received serious injuries and has been airlifted to hospital at Leeds."
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