A Piper Arrow being flown by a trainee pilot was forced to circle the airport for about 30 minutes after a control panel light malfunctioned, indicating the landing gear had failed. ST Aviation Training Academy flight instructor

Jonathan Kirwood took control of the plane while emergency services raced to the scene.

The Piper Arrow landed safely at 9.20am and was quickly surrounded by six CFA tankers as it taxied to a stop.

ST Aviation Training Academy chief pilot John Matthews said both the instructor and the Chinese trainee pilot, whose name has been withheld by the company, had remained calm throughout the drama.

"They were both happy to be on the ground," Mr Matthews said.

"The flight instructor was very calm throughout. I was very happy with his actions."

CFA rescue units, paramedics and police also attended the scene, with the CFA tankers lining the runway as the plane came in to land.

Mr Matthews said the Piper Arrow's landing gear had activated.

The fault was in the control panel light globe.

CFA operations officer Wayne Rigg said they shut down the plane's engine as soon as it landed for precautionary reasons.

"Once we heard the aircraft was in trouble, we enacted our plan," Mr Rigg said.

"In this circumstance, there was two hours of fuel in the plane so we didn't want to rush to enact the plan but rather make sure everything was in place."

After a quick debriefing, Mr Kirwood said he stayed calm throughout the incident.

"I was worse after I hopped out," he said.

While Mr Kirwood said he hadn't experienced this situation before in more than five years of flight instruction, he would have been able to land without the landing gear if needed.

"I'm quite comfortable with everything we did."