The health situation of Emerson Fittipaldi is not as bad as reported yesterday. Doctors the Miami hospital, where Fittipaldi was flown to, say he has an 'almost 100 percent' chance that he will be able to walk again after surgery.

One of his doctors Barth Green said: "He has a minimal degree of paralysis and numbness at this point. I think the chances are almost 100 percent he'll be able to walk."

Fittipaldi can leave the hospital in about one week but he needs to wear a brace for six months.

Dr Luiz Roberto Neves, a doctor in the Brazilian hospital where Fittipaldi was taken first, said: "It wasn't a forced landing. It was a crash. The swamp saved them. If they had fallen on solid ground, they surely would have been killed."

Fittipaldi has said he will fly again.