A PLANE performed a dramatic emergency landing at Liverpool John Lennon Airport yesterday.

One hundred and fifteen passengers and six crew members were evacuated from the Boeing 737-800 series after it screeched to a halt on the Speke runway yesterday afternoon.

The Ryanair FR4021 flight was forced to make a sudden U-turn 30 minutes after leaving Liverpool for Agadir, in Morocco, following reports of a fire on board.

The pilot announced his intention to perform an emergency landing as police, fire crews and paramedics rushed to the airport and a full emergency was declared.

Startled witnesses said the plane touched down with its brakes shrieking, landing on its wheels, before coming to a juddering halt midway along the runway.

The airport was closed down for around an hour and all flights suspended as aviation bosses were put on red alert.

Engineers carried out an assessment of the plane, checking for any signs of a blaze.

But it was later confirmed the cause of the emergency was a faulty fire activation light, which had activated mid-flight.

Last night, Ryanair apologised to its passengers, adding safety was its top priority.

A spokesman said: “Flight FR4021 from Liverpool to Agadir returned to Liverpool shortly after take-off as a precaution when a fire indicator light was activated.

“The aircraft, in keeping with safety procedures, returned to Liverpool and landed normally, whereupon all passengers were disembarked via the safety slides and transferred to the terminal by coach.

“Ryanair engineers have confirmed there was no fire and a faulty indicator light is the suspected cause of this turnback.

“In order to minimise the delay for passengers, Ryanair has arranged a spare aircraft to carry them onwards to Agadir.

“ Ryanair apologises for any inconvenience, but the safety of our passengers and crew will always be the number one priority.”