A SECOND plane crash in four days was averted at Perth airport yesterday when a pilot safely brought home his light aircraft after experiencing problems in mid-air.

Four Tayside Fire and Rescue appliances were en route to the Scone airfield just after 11am when the Cessna 172 was reported to the control room as having a rough-riding engine.

The experienced pilot was a few miles from the airport, but brought the plane in without further problems, and the fire appliances were called back less than a minute after setting out.

A member of staff at the airport said the pilot always had enough height to safely execute the landing, and the call to the fire service was a precaution.

On Monday a pilot and passenger escaped serious injury when their light aircraft crashed near Perth airport.

The two men brought their plane down in a field next to the airport after experiencing a power failure near Scone.

They were travelling in a 78-year-old De Havilland DH60G Gipsy Moth, which landed just a few hundred yards from houses.

The men had freed themselves from the plane by the time emergency services arrived.

It was said yesterday that “the problem on Monday was that they had just taken off and didn’t have enough height.”