LUCK was on the side of two pilots caught up in a Friday 13th landing drama at a North-East airfield.

The two flyers, one a 74-year-old commander, scrambled uninjured from the Cessna aircraft after it nose-dived on to the landing strip at Shotton Colliery airfield, near Peterlee.

An air accident report from the Department of Transport, Local Government and Regions (DTLR) revealed yesterday how, on April 13, the plane had been on a parachute dropping sortie.

The exercise had involved four circuits at 3,500ft above the airfield, with one parachutist exiting on each trip.

The elderly commander, the holder of a private pilot's licence with 1,600 hours flying experience on that type of aircraft, was supervising the pilot handling the plane.

The DTLR report described how after the last parachutist had dropped from the plane, the pilot made a wide left-hand descending circuit, and prepared for a final approach.

The accident report went on: "The commander considered that the height of the aircraft as it passed over the boundary fence was correct, but the pilot under training thought he was too low and applied power for a go round.''

As a result, the aircraft had "nose pitched up'' and before the commander could take control, it had sunk to the ground on to its nose landing gear, which collapsed.

The commander told investigators that the pilot under supervision had not appreciated the degree of pitch that would result from his manoevre, which resulted in the aircraft stalling.