The man who guided a trainee pilot through a successful emergency landing in a light plane at Archerfield Airport on Thursday afternoon said he could not have hoped for a better outcome.

The aircraft, with two men and a woman on board, had departed earlier in the day from Coffs Harbour in New South Wales when it developed problems with its front landing-gear.

It circled Archerfield Airport in Brisbane's west several times before landing about 4:30pm.

The plane's nose skid along the runway as it slowly came to a halt.

Footage showed the three people on board jump out of the aircraft, all unharmed, shortly after landing.

Instructing pilot Robert Loretan, who was on the ground and in communication with the trainee pilot, praised the landing.

"You couldn't hope for a much better outcome if the wheel is not going to come down," Mr Loretan said.

"We've been through these discussions and lots of talk of making sure that you get all the recourses managed before you attempt to make a landing when you've got plenty of time and he did that very well.

Three people emerged from the light plane shortly after its emergency landing. ( Supplied: 7 News Queensland )

"And you can't expect a better outcome."

He said the trainee was a "strong pilot".

"I would hope that if a pilot has been well trained by his school, and many are, you would get a similar outcome," Mr Loretan said.

"Provided they don't rush it, what he did properly is he didn't rush it.

"He took good advice he talked about how to land it, all those sort of things. That's what he did well."

Firefighters on standby for emergency landing

Firefighter Andy Crane said the crew were well prepared for the landing.

"It was a little nerve-racking," he said.

"The pilot was with it enough that he had the door open as the plane came in so they were out pretty quickly.

"We were able to pat them on the back as they left the aircraft and they were quite relieved obviously."

Airport general manager Heather Mattes said it was a textbook landing.

"As a pilot myself you're taught to hold back, hold back and he did, three-quarters down the runway and then he popped the nose down," Ms Mattes said.

"And of course the nose hit the deck but that's what's going to happen without a nose wheel."

The Air Transport Safety Bureau has been notified of the incident and will gather more information before deciding whether to investigate.