TWO pilots escaped with just “bumps and bruises” after their light aircraft crashed while approaching a North Yorkshire airfield.

The Piper PA28 Arrow appeared to suffer engine failure as it was coming in to land at Sherburn Aero Club, Sherburn-in-Elmet, on Saturday afternoon, and crashed into saplings and shrubbery on a nearby slope.

An eyewitness told The Press how he saw smoke coming from the engine as the plane was flying over him at a nearby level crossing.

Jack Thompson, 23, of Hambleton, near Selby, said he drove across to the crash site to see if the plane’s occupants were all right, and found them getting out. “They were obviously shaken up,” he said.

The aero club’s chairman, Chris Burton, said the pilots managed with great skill to land the single- engine plane, which ended up about 300 metres from the start of one of the airfield’s runways.

He said the craft was severely damaged but the two men, who were in their mid-30s, suffered only “bumps and bruises”.

He said the club had launched its emergency procedures and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Yorkshire Ambulance Service both attended the accident, but the men were treated on the spot and did not need to be taken to hospital.

“It’s a tribute to the skills of the pilots that they managed to bring the plane down in this way without suffering serious injury,” he said.

Mr Burton said the plane was not part of the club, but had been visiting from Cranfield in Lincolnshire.

He said it seemed the engine problems only became apparent as it was coming down to land.

“There was no Mayday signal,” he said.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch said it had been informed about the accident and was investigating. North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service said firefighters were called to the scene, but were not needed to assist in releasing the pilots.