A private plane got into difficulty while landing at a Norfolk airfield after its front wheel began to vibrate "violently".

The pilot was landing his Piper PA-28-236 plane at Old Buckenham Airfield at 1pm on Sunday, February 27, when he was forced to steer against a strong crosswind gust.

An Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said that after he did so a "violent nosewheel shimmy" started, which made the plane "virtually uncontrollable".

A nosewheel shimmy is when the front wheel of a plane vibrates and shakes.

It is believed a foreign object caused the incident, which eased when the plane slowed to 20 knots allowing it to land safely.

An examination of the aircraft found the rudder had been damaged and the nosewheel tyre sidewall had also been severely damaged.

The report stated that the sidewall tyre damage appeared to have been caused by a stone getting trapped between the wheel spat and the tyre.

Following the incident, the AAIB and the Civil Aviation Authority recommended pilots read the ‘Safety Sense Leaflet 12 - Strip Flying’ and reminded owners of aircraft fitted with wheel spats to "take account of ground conditions and to "take care to ensure wheel spats are clear of contamination".