A herd of beef cattle at Te Horo, Kāpiti, surround a plane that touched down in their paddock on Sunday.

A herd of beef cattle did what they do when a plane touches down in their paddock - they got licking.

It was Sunday afternoon and Bryn Whyman was sitting at his Te Horo, Kāpiti, home looking out the window.

"All of a sudden we saw a plane coming down onto the [paddock]," he said.

BRYN WHYMAN Emergency services were called to the rural scene, where a plane landed in a rural Te Horo paddock.

"We thought he was going to hit a cow."

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In the air, the pilot had decided to do an emergency landing after developing a shuddering engine.

As he came into land, the beef cattle dashed out of the way.

"I got down there and he was surrounded by about 30 cows, all licking the plane," Whyman said.

The pilot was calm and explained that they liked to lick planes.

"It was great - even the fireman was out taking photos."

The plane was going to get trucked out on Monday, he said.

The small plane, with just one person on board, was forced to land in a paddock off Puruaha Rd, at Te Horo Beach, about 3.30pm on Sunday, police said.

Kāpiti Aero Club secretary and treasurer Peter Merwood said it was a private aircraft that had made the forced landing.

"A mayday call was made and he made a successful crash landing," Merwood said.

"Pilots here are interested in what's happened ... we're happy that they're safe."

The pilot was not one of the club's members, and he did not know the pilot personally, he said.