A PILOT who was hailed a hero after risking his life to avoid hitting children on a playing field during a forced landing told last night how he narrowly avoided disaster.

David Leeder, 54, was preparing to make an emergency landing on a playing field after his engine cut out - but noticed he was heading for a group of playing youngsters.

Mr Leeder, a cameraman from Heaton, Newcastle, was forced to crash land on Wallsend Golf Course, in North Tyneside.

He said: "I was on my way back to Northumberland and suddenly the engine cut out for no apparent reason. It just suddenly went quiet.

"I maydayed the airport and they alerted the emergency services.

"I flew around for a bit trying to find somewhere suitable to land and spotted a school field underneath.

"But when I got closer to the ground I could see children playing - I had to rethink things pretty quickly.

"Fortunately, Wallsend Golf Course was right next door and I was able to land on one of the fairways."

Mr Leeder said a golfer who was just teeing off "got quite a shock".

He said: "The grass was wet and when I came down I couldn't get the plane to stop and I ended up crashing into a fence. That's when the damage to the wings happened.

"This is the first time anything like this has ever happened to me, but thankfully all my emergency training kicked in and I didn't feel anxious at the time.

"I am just glad that neither myself, nor anyone else, was injured."

Mr Leeder's progress was tracked by Newcastle Airport's air traffic control, which scrambled a helicopter and alerted emergency services.

He said: "There was even a police officer from the body recovery unit - thankfully there wasn't any business for him."

Mr Leeder was making his way to Eshott Airfield, in Northumberland, from Scarborough, when he lost all power in his Cessna 152.

The pilot of light aircraft for 30 years, sent a distress call to Newcastle Airport which advised him to try to glide down on one of its runways.

However, he knew he had to land sooner and spotted the field at Benfield School in Wallsend, where the children were playing.

A Newcastle Airport spokesman said: "The pilot was something of a hero. He handled the situation well, under some considerable pressure."

Melvin Morgan, duty manager at Wallsend Golf Course, who met Mr Leeder as he got out of his plane, said yesterday: "He seemed completely calm and relaxed.

"The firefighters and ambulance crews arrived on the scene within minutes."

An investigation has been launched by the Air Accidents Investigations Branch.