A FLYING instructor and a trainee pilot cheated death after they were forced to crash land in a farmer's field just metres away from a residential estate near Gorseinon.

Emergency services rushed to the incident at Pen-Cefn-Arda Farm, Penyrheol, around 4.50pm yesterday.

The light aircraft, a four-seater Cessna, was upside down in a field when they arrived, but the two occupants walked away from the wreckage with just minor injuries.

The plane was reported to be en route from Manchester to Swansea when it suffered apparent engine failure.

Farmer Rhys Jenkins, whose father owns the farmland, was one of the first on the scene.

He said: "The crash happened around 4.45pm. We saw a plane upside down with a private helicopter next to it.

"Myself and a few members of staff were the first people on the scene and saw the pilot and passenger walking near the plane.

"Luckily they were not seriously hurt.

"I escorted the police to the scene on my quad bike, and there were a lot of onlookers trying to see what had happened."

Mr Jenkins said he believed the plane was flying in the direction of Gorseinon.

"It could have been a lot worse if the plane could not have stopped, as there are houses nearby.

"It touched down and flipped over.

"They had a lucky escape."

Local businessman Chris Kiley is understood to have been flying his private helicopter when he heard about the distressed plane.

Mr Jenkins said Mr Kiley had also assisted with the incident, and took the passenger with him in his aircraft.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service sent appliances from Gorseinon, Pontarddulais and Morriston, plus a 4x4 vehicle from Morriston.

There were also police and ambulance crews. A South Wales Police spokeswoman said: "A pilot of a light aircraft sustained minor injuries after landing in open farmland, near Pen Cefn-Arda Road, near Gorseinon.

"The incident happened at approximately 4.50pm. Another man, believed to be a passenger, did not suffer any injuries. Both men are believed to be from the South Wales area.

"Police officers are liaising with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, and will preserve the scene for further investigations."

A Wales Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "We had a call from the fire service at 4.53pm regarding a report that a light aircraft had come down.

"We attended with a paramedic response car, ambulance and air ambulance, and we conveyed one adult male with minor facial injuries to Morriston Hospital.

"The other person was not injured."