Upon landing on the runway around 3.30pm, a privately owned aircraft, flown by a student pilot, was blown into a ‘‘ground loop’’ by the slipstream of a large Lockheed Neptune owned by the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society.

The HARS plane, conducting engine runs, created a wake so strong it blew the smaller plane over, causing significant damage to its nose and propeller.

“I heard people calling madly on the radio for the plane to taxi on a different runway, and our people were waving madly for the plane to stop,” said Bob De La Hunty, HARS president.

“The pilot did what pilots are trained not to do, taxi behind a plane running engines. She didn’t notice, and the craft suffered.”

Chris Clark, chief pilot of Southern Biplane Adventures, said: “It was poor airmanship from HARS. They represented a danger to other aircraft.

“The plane taxied on the only exit available, and the HARS plane was positioned so the blast of its engines was directed on the only active runway.”

Mr Clark said any craft using the runway would have had to go behind the Neptune.

“It wasn’t safe,” he said.

Mr De La Hunty disagreed, saying blame lay with the student pilot.

“You don’t taxi behind another craft with engines running,” he said.

“It is the pilot’s responsibility to remain clear.”

While the ATSB has indicated it won’t investigate the incident, Shellharbour City Council, with oversight over the airport, said it would co-operate should that decision be changed.

‘‘No assumptions have been made on the cause of the incident but [the council] will assist...if needed and implement any action that may come out of an investigation,” a council spokesperson said.