A FLIGHT from Southampton Airport has been forced into an emergency landing this morning after an engine failure.

The Flybe Embraer 175 twin jet engine aeroplane was grounded following a bird strike on its way to Alicante.

There were 83 people on board the flight and there were no injuries.

The extent of the damage to the aircraft has not been confirmed while the investigation is still ongoing.

A spokeswoman from Southampton Airport confirmed that no-one had been hurt.

She said: “The pilot made the call to come down after a bird strike.

“This has not caused any other delays at the airport.

The flight took off from Southampton Airport just after 10am and made its emergency landing at 10.30am.

A Flybe spokesperson said: “Flybe can confirm that the above flight returned from airborne this morning following a bird strike.

“The aircraft landed safely without further incident at Southampton Airport and, as is common practice in such situations, the airport put its emergency vehicles on standby as a precautionary measure.

“All passengers disembarked as normal when the aircraft arrived on stand. Flybe is re-accommodating passengers on an alternate aircraft.

“The safety of its passengers and crew is the airline’s number one priority and Flybe apologises to its passengers for the inconvenience experienced as a result of this incident.”

Ann Pattison De Bellasis, of Archery Road, Woolston, Southampton, was on board the flight, which was forced to land shortly after takeoff at 10am.

Her husband, Keith Pattison, an aerospace engineer, said: “It’s almost certainly a bird strike, I would have thought.”