A TINY missing bolt forced a plane to make a crash landing at a North-East airport after its landing gear failed to lock.

A report, by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) into the accident at Teesside International Airport, on April 21, last year, was published yesterday.

The airport was put on full emergency after the pilot of the Cessna 441 twin propeller aircraft reported that its front wheel would not lock into place.

Emergency services from the airport and Durham and Darlington Fire Brigade were called to the scene and the aircraft, with three crew on board, was forced to circle the airport to use up its fuel.

A blanket of foam was laid on the runway before the plane was given the go-ahead to land.

On hitting the runway, the nose wheel collapsed, causing slight damage to the aircraft. No one was injured.

The 42-year-old pilot and the crew of the plane were praised at the time for bringing the plane down safely.

Almost a year after the event, a spokesman for the AAIB said: "Examination of the nose landing gear system revealed that the bolt connecting the leg assembly to a brace link was missing.

"The head of the missing bolt was recovered and suggested it had probably failed earlier and then fell out before the accident.

"The remainder of the bolt was recovered from a position which suggested that it had fallen out during taxiing just prior to take-off on the accident flight."

The report concluded that the bolt had corroded and split before the plane took off and had finally worked loose as the aircraft was heading for Teesside