A PILOT was forced to shut down one of his engines moments before carrying out an emergency landing at Southampton Airport this morning.

The Flybe service had just taken off from the terminal carrying 34 passengers to Jersey when it developed a technical fault and turned back.

Company bosses say the captain decided to cut power to the number two engine as a safety precaution.

Emergency services were called to theairport at around 8.50am today including fire crews from St Mary’s and Eastleigh.

But the plane landed safely 15 minutes later and no injuries were reported.

A Flybe spokesman said the Bombardier Q400 aircraft was designed to continue flying safely with one of its engines shut down.

She added: “The aircraft landed without further incident and all 34 passengers disembarked as normal and were re-accommodated on another flight.

“Flybe regrets any inconvenience experienced by passengers but as always the safety of our passengers and crew remains the airline’s number one priority."