Passengers spoke of their shock today after their aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing when smoke from one of its engines filled the cabin.

The Flybe aircraft was en route from Birmingham to Edinburgh when it was forced to make an emergency landing at Leeds Bradford International Airport.

All 56 passengers, who were told to brace themselves for the landing, disembarked safely via the aircraft steps. There were no injuries, but an elderly lady was later treated for shock.

Brian Goldthorpe was travelling to Edinburgh for a business trip.

He said: "I was in shock, I could not believe this was happening. You hear of people with this sort of thing happening."

He told how the plane filled with smoke as emergency warnings were read out.

"We did not know where we were or where the plane would be landing. The first time we knew where we were was when we saw the Leeds Bradford sign on the steps."

The businessman said he had called his family to tell them he was all right.

"The crew were excellent, there was no screaming and no mass hysteria."

Mike Rutter, Flybe sales and marketing director, said the incident was caused by smoke coming from one of the plane's engines.

He said: "This was caused by smoke, not a fire, from an engine.

"As a precaution, because of the thickness of the smoke, we diverted to Leeds Bradford. We landed within 12 minutes of the captain becoming aware of the problem.

"As is our standard policy, the cabin and flight deck crew donned smoke masks so they could continue to operate and we landed downwind at the airport."

He said aviation officials had been informed but said they saw the landing as an "incident" - the lowest level of alert - not an "accident" and would not be attending.

The plane left Birmingham at 8.09am and landed at Leeds Bradford at 8.47am. A new plane took some passengers onwards to Edinburgh and Flybe also offered a land route.

More on this story in Friday's Birmingham Post