A PASSENGER jet was forced to make an emergency landing at a North-East airport after the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit.
The easyJet flight, carrying 127 people from Newcastle Airport to Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday, was seven minutes into the flight when smoke was seen.
An airport spokesman said last night: "After take-off, the pilot declared an emergency because he thought it was smoke in the cockpit.
"A decision was quickly made to return to its original destination.
"Passengers were told exactly what was going on and the cabin crew controlled the situation very well. It appeared the passengers remained extremely calm."
The spokesman said the pilot downgraded the emergency when he realised it was not as serious a problem as first thought.
The aircraft landed at 8.05pm but the pilot was forced to circle the airport for an hour to burn off enough fuel to land safely.
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