Balloonist crashing near auto (8)
I believe the answer is:
aeronaut
'balloonist' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'crashing near auto' is the wordplay.
'crashing' indicates anagramming the letters.
'near'+'auto'='nearauto'
'nearauto' anagrammed gives 'AERONAUT'.
(Other definitions for aeronaut that I've seen before include "Space pilot" , "Early traveller by air" , "Pilot - Eton aura (anag)" , "Someone who operates an aircraft" , "Balloonist" .)