Alan Sugar, host of the BBC series "The Apprentice," was lucky to survive a rough plane landing in the British city of Manchester, witnesses say.

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An unidentified witness said the 61-year-old managed to land his private plane at a small airport this weekend despite heavy rains, The Mail on Sunday reported. Sugar overshot the end of the slippery runway by nearly 100 feet, the Mail said.

"It is only a small airport," the witness said of Saturday's incident. "There is not a great deal of room for pilot error.

"Had he been going much faster, it could have been a very different story."

A spokesman for the TV star said blamed the weather, saying Sugar is an experienced pilot who was merely flying in from the county of Essex.

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"The accident was due to the weather being particularly wet and heavy," the unidentified spokesman told the Mail. "It is also a very short runway.

"For Sir Alan this was just a pleasure trip. He flies a great deal at the weekends."