Light plane hits tree to avoid Vic traffic

An experienced pilot suffering engine trouble in his light plane deliberately hit a tree rather than crash land on a Melbourne freeway.

Jeweller and long-time pilot Graham Hosking crash-landed just metres from the Peninsula Link freeway in Frankston after his plane's engine started spluttering about 11am.

He was aiming to land on a nearby reserve but the plane had too much speed, so he overshot the grass.

"Then I saw the freeway and the fence and all the traffic, so I deliberately put the right wing into the tree," Mr Hosking told the Seven Network on Tuesday.

The plane crashed just metres from the freeway and the 69-year-old suffered minor injuries.

It isn't the first crash for Mr Hosking, with the last one forcing him to call his wife to say he was in hospital.

"This time he said he was able to say 'I'm actually walking around', so that was really good," his wife Kerry Hosking told the Nine Network.

The single-seat plane suffered serious damage and a crane had to be brought in to lift it.