A PILOT was forced to make an emergency landing after losing power on approach to Durham Tees Valley Airport, an investigation found.

The light aircraft crash-landed in a field at Ingleby Cross, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, before hitting a hedge.

The pilot and his passenger, his father, escaped unhurt from the Cessna 152 after it crashed at Summerfield Farm on July 27, last year, it has been revealed to the public.

A witness told accident investigators how the pilot had managed to fly under electricity cables before the plane crashed into the ground.

The aircraft was being flown from Bournemouth to Durham Tees Valley Airport on a navigation exercise when the engine started to run roughly, before losing all power.

The engine stopped and the 28-year-old pilot called in a mayday before crash-landing in the field, 16 miles from the airport.

The report showed the pilot believed the engine failed because of carburettor icing.

At the time of the incident, witness Trevor Mason, who runs an engineering business at Ashfield House, in Black Horse Lane, Swainby, North Yorkshire, said: "I saw the plane when it was very low. I noticed the propeller wasn't turning and the plane started banking to the side.

"I followed it until it dropped out of sight behind my shed and then I heard a big bang, so I jumped in my pickup and drove there. The pilot and passenger were out of the plane and I asked them whether they were okay. They were remarkably calm and cool after what had happened.

"He must have been a very good pilot because he has got it down just in time to get under the electricity cables."