An American Airlines passenger plane was diverted to the Island after losing power in one of its engines while flying from the Caribbean to New York last night.

Almost half the Island?s fleet of fire-fighting vehicles were sent to Bermuda International Airport as the aircraft, carrying 162 passengers, prepared for an emergency landing.

Eleven fire service vehicles and 27 firefighters were called out to deal with the incident, but were able to return to their stations soon afterwards as the AA flight landed safely just after 9.15 p.m.

The plane was on route from St. Maarten to New York?s JFK when the pilot reported an emergency and said he was running low on power in the left side engine.