Passengers and crew had a scary entrance to Bermuda yesterday when they thought the landing gear had failed to come down.

The pilot aboard the American Airlines flight from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport had become alarmed after a warning light in his cockpit said the wheels were not ready as airport fire crew scrambled for a possible emergency at noon yesterday.

The Boeing 767, with 73 people on board, had to circle Bermuda twice making slow, low passes before ground crew with binoculars in the control tower could tell the plane that the wheels had come down and were locked.

The plane then landed 20 minutes later than the 12.15 p.m. scheduled arrival time.

Airport general manager James Howes said it was not the first time he had come across a faulty sensor falsely indicating wheels were not down.

He said: "We have to take everything like that seriously."

American Airlines acting general manager Cecilia DaCosta said the passengers seemed fine as they disembarked. "They seemed to be calm."