A passenger has successfully landed a plane after its pilot fell ill. 

The man, who has not been named, took control of a light plane that had taken off from an English airfield when the pilot became so sick he was unable to continue flying the aircraft. 

Two flying instructors were called in to talk to the passenger who had limited flying experience and had never landed a plane before. 

Despite this he managed to land at the North Lincolnshire airport in England just after 7.30pm.

A panorama of Humberside airport where the plane made its emergency landing. Image: Twitter.com/Humberside

"The passenger flew over the airport a couple of times," said an airport spokesperson. "The emergency services were waiting for them when he landed safely."

The light aircraft took off from Sandtoft Airfield, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire for training with one passenger. The man and pilot, who have not been named, were the only two people on board the aircraft.

Details of the pilot's condition are not known at this stage, English police said.

The airport praised the response of emergency services in a tweet.

Flights coming into the airport were delayed while the plane was moved from the runway.