AN HEROIC pilot safely landed a plane at Barton Aerodrome after it lost a wheel on take off.

Five skydivers, who had been aboard the stricken Cessna, bailed out before the dramatic crash-landing.

Pilot Gordon Cooper had to circle alone above Greater Manchester to burn-off fuel before attempting the tricky touchdown.

The Cessna 185 damaged its landing gear on take off at the Black Knights Parachute Centre in Cockerham, near Heysham, Lancashire.

The pilot managed to get the plane to a safe enough height for the skydivers to parachute back to the tiny airfield. He then diverted to Barton for an emergency landing with ambulance and fire crews on full alert.

Before coming into land he circled above Bolton to use up fuel and reduce the risk of the plane bursting into flames on impact.

The Greater Manchester Police helicopter was scrambled to follow the plane into Barton, which is next to the busy A57 dual carriageway. Traffic police were on standby to close nearby roads. The drama unfolded after the plane veered to one side on take-off and hit a mound of earth, snapping off a main wheel and a strut.

At Barton, Kelechi Okorie - marketing manager of Pennine Helicopters, which runs pleasure flights - captured the landing on camera.

He said: "It was being tailed by the police helicopter. The plane came in and skidded on its side at the point of impact with the grass airfield.

"Other pilots who were watching on the ground applauded. It was a very impressive landing in the circumstances.

"The police helicopter hovered for a short while near the plane and then the fire engines moved in, but there was no fire."

Fire Service spokesman Ian Bailie, said: "We had plenty of warning that the plane was coming into Barton."

Stunned sightseers witnessed the plane losing its left wheel after it hit a large mound of earth after veering off the grass runway in Cockerham.

Bill Killiner, 41, a bus driver from Lostock, Bolton, said: "Everyone was shocked and looking at each other as if to say `did I see that?' It was like something out of a film."

He said that immediately after the initial impact the plane had looked like it would topple over.

People on the ground heard every word of the pilot's conversation with control via a PA system.

Mr Killiner said: "He sounded very calm, his first words were something along the lines of `give me the good news'. He then said he would drop the parachutists off."

Inspector Ian Tickner of Greater Manchester Police said: "The pilot is safe and well and there is no further damage to the plane. I would say that it was all down to the skill of the pilot."

See the drama as it unfolded in our picture gallery on the right.