A PILOT crash-landed on a deserted beach after he got lost in fog and his plane ran out of fuel.

The light aircraft landed at Goswick Sands, near Holy Island, off the Northumberland coastline, after the pilot made an emergency call to the flight control centre, in London, and RAF rescue crew based at Boulmer, Northumberland.

An RAF Sea King was despatched to intercept the aircraft, which was lost in thick, low-lying cloud off the North Sea, near Berwick.

The helicopter crew hoped to guide the two-seater Cessna 150 to Eshott Airfield near Morpeth, a Second World War air base 30 miles from Berwick.

But the plane's engine failed when it ran out of fuel, and the pilot and his passenger were forced to land in failing light at the beach 25 miles from their destination.

RAF Squadron leader Andy Shenton, 35, the 'A' flight 202 Sea King helicopter winchman, said the men were lucky to escape with their lives.

"If their fuel had run out any sooner or later it could have been a very different story, " he said.

"The beach at Holy Island is very long, wide and flat when the tide is out, and the sand is compacted quite hard.

"But north and south of there, the coastline is far more treacherous and I don't know where would have been an easy place to find to land.

"The coastline gets far worse and there would have been far fewer opportunities available to them.

"It was an incredibly successful landing - textbook. There was no damage to the aircraft and both the men were fine, if a little shaken up."

Sqn Leader Shenton, who was part of a four man crew including pilot Flight Lieutenant Charlie Logan, co-pilot Squadron Leader Henry Pottle, and radar winch operator Flight Lieutenant Mike Holman, said the men were unhurt but shocked and recovering at the north Northumberland airbase.

The aircraft had to be dragged further up the beach by the coastguard because the tide was coming in.

A witness, who did not wish to be named, said: "I was walking the dog when I saw the helicopter guiding the plane down.

"It had its emergency lights on and waas flying about half a mile in front of the light aircraft.

"They swooped right over my head and then the helicopter veered off as the plane landed.

"The plane had quite a rough landing on he beach and I was quite worried, but the RAF helicopter did a fantastic job."