Police have told of frantic efforts to clear traffic from major Brisbane roads before a stricken light plane crash landed on a football field.
A police officer says the pilot did an exceptional job in avoiding busy roads and homes to land the plane about 7:30am in the city's southeast.
The pilot and his male passenger escaped serious injury but have been taken to hospital for observation after the crash at the Souths United Football Club at Runcorn.
The plane experienced engine problems as it returned from a flight over Stradbroke Island, and clipped a goal post as it came down, snapping off a wing.
"If the fuselage had hit the pole it may have been a different story," Inspector Rob Graham told reporters at the scene.
"I think that may have been the intention from the pilot - he may have tried to put it in between the poles.
"He would have had some control over direction but no control over propulsion."
Insp Graham said every police resource in the area was scrambled when air traffic controllers at Archerfield airport told them the plane was in trouble.
"The information was that the forced landing was going to occur either on a roadway or in suburbia.
"Calls went straight out over the radio ... to start blocking off major arterial roads and clearing traffic from the roadway, so that it gave the aircraft some opportunity and some clear space to land."
Insp Graham said the drama showed the value of regular police drills on how deal with such incidents, and he praised the pilot's actions.
"The pilot did a great job when you consider what is around here," he said.
Investigators are looking into the cause of the incident, which involved a plane hired from an Archerfield business for a pleasure flight.
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