Pilot forced to make Birmingham landing

Hundreds of holidaymakers were left terrified as their plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Birmingham.

Passengers on the Monarch flight to Tenerife today spoke of six foot flames bursting from the left engine shortly after take-off last night.

Families were left screaming and in tears as the aircraft shuddered and made loud banging noises.

The airport's on-site fire crew surrounded the Airbus A321 after it landed.

Monarch said today the left side engine had failed just minutes after take-off and the plane was forced to remain in the air above

Birmingham for around 10 minutes before the pilot could make the emergency landing.

The flight was meant to leave at 2.45pm yesterday but passengers were already delayed by five hours, reportedly because of a faulty aircraft.

The drama happened after they took off at around 6.30pm on another flight.

Father-of-two Nick Clayton, who was travelling with his wife Emma and sons Callum, aged seven, and two-year-old Kyle, all from St John's in Worcester, said: "The first bang I thought might just have been the wheels getting stuck but then I saw flames and I knew something was seriously wrong. People were screaming and panicking."

Passengers finally left at 7.50am today after spending the night in a hotel.