A veteran pilot escaped unscathed after being forced to make an emergency landing on a remote Bay of Plenty beach when part of his propeller snapped off mid-flight.

Evan Wheeler, 72, told the Herald he had hoped to clock 1000 flying hours without an incident, but fell just 12 hours short.

He was flying his two-seater Murphy Rebel bush plane back to Whitianga after a barbecue hosted by the Ōpōtiki Aero Club on Sunday afternoon when part of its wooden propeller suddenly broke off.

“My initial thought was, is it the engine, is the engine blowing up?” he said.

“There was just an instantaneous massive vibration, horrible, serious vibrations,” he said, comparing the sensation to an unbalanced car wheel spinning at speed.

“If it’s spinning, it just shakes, shakes the hell out of it. And that’s what the propeller was doing.”

A damaged propeller forced pilot Evan Wheeler to make an emergency landing after his aircraft began shaking violently at 1200 feet. Photo / Evan Wheeler

Wheeler, who has 26 years of flying experience, immediately reduced the throttle, knowing the vibrations could cause serious damage to the plane.

As the engine slowed, the vibrations subsided, leading him to realise the problem was likely with the propeller.

He estimated he was five minutes from an airfield at Waihī but soon realised that was too far.

“I was only at 1200 feet, so you don’t have a lot of time. You’ve got about a minute to get on the ground.”

A light aircraft made an emergency landing on a remote stretch of Matakana Island beach after part of its propeller broke off mid-flight. Photo / Evan Wheeler

With time ticking away, he turned his attention to the shoreline of Matakana Island, where he hoped to bring the plane down safely.

Wheeler said his training kicked in and he remained calm, asking himself: “Where am I, what are my options?”

He said his priority was reaching the sand, knowing a landing in the water “could create a number of problems”.

“I just managed to coax it in, just nudged it along with a little bit of throttle ... And that just gave me enough to get over the sand.”

He believed he would have been forced to land in the sea had he been just 500m to 1km further offshore, potentially causing the aircraft to overturn in the water.

But even reaching the beach carried risks, with Wheeler fearing the soft sand could cause the plane to flip onto its roof.

“I turned, pulled the motor off so it cut out and let her land, just glided it in, just a few bounces then we were all right.”

“A very big relief,” he said.

Experienced pilot Evan Wheeler escaped injury after making an emergency landing on Matakana Island in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / Evan Wheeler

Wheeler escaped without so much as a bruise, while the aircraft was also undamaged, apart from the broken propeller.

The force of the vibrations had automatically activated his emergency locator beacon, alerting the Rescue Coordination Centre in Wellington, which called him within minutes of landing.

The Matakana Island fire chief later helped Wheeler reach the mainland, where a fellow pilot collected him and flew him home.

The following day, Wheeler returned with friends and a replacement propeller, which they fitted after checking the aircraft for further damage, allowing him to fly it back home.

“It’s home now in the hangar, all good,” he said.

The Civil Aviation Authority said it was aware of the incident and would conduct preliminary inquiries to establish what happened and whether further action was required.

Wheeler suspects a small component covering the propeller bolts may have come loose and struck one of the blades.

Mercury Bay Aero Club president Evan Wheeler has been flying for 26 years and credits his training with helping him remain calm during the emergency. Photo / Evan Wheeler

Wheeler, who also serves as president of the Whitianga Aero Club, credited his survival to the emergency training he had received, including regular exercises in which instructors simulated engine failures.

“You’re in a situation where if you want to survive, you’ve just got to stay calm.

“You’re taught the procedures to follow when it hits the fan, you’ve just got to do it.”

Despite the close call, Wheeler said he was still learning after almost 1000 hours in the air.

“I’m still learning. I’m always learning and I’m happy to be told ‘do this better’.”