THE investigation into Thursday evening’s emergency at Bournemouth International Airport will focus on whether the cause was a mechanical problem or human error.

A four-seater Beech Duchess operated by Professional Flight Training crash-landed on its undercarriage, but none of the three people on board was hurt.

Air traffic controllers had no advance knowledge of a problem and emergency services were not alerted until the plane was down. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch will now carry out an inquiry.

A spokesman for the flying school, which is based at the airport, confirmed that an instructor and two students were on board, and that one of the trainees was at the controls as the plane came in to land.

He said the incident was unrelated to an emergency landing by a pilot from a different flying school, Professional Air Training, on April 2 when another Beech Duchess had problems with its landing gear.

“There was an undercarriage problem,” added the spokesman. “We’re not going to make any official statement until the investigation has been done.”

The Daily Echo understands that three green lights should come on in the cockpit to indicate that the aircraft’s wheels are safely down before landing.

Bournemouth Airport spokeswoman Sally Windsor said: “As far as air traffic control was concerned, it was a perfectly normal landing. They weren’t alerted in advance and the problem only became apparent when the plane landed on the runway. Full emergency procedures then came into play.”

The USA-made twin engined Beech Duchess is popular with flying schools all over the world. Bournemouth Airport is one of the busiest in the country for light aviation movements.