Blair in holiday plane drama

A British Airways plane taking British Prime Minister Tony Blair on his Christmas holiday was involved in a runway drama on landing in America.

The Boeing 747 plane, with 345 passengers on board, ended up on a buffer zone at the end of the runway after touching down at Miami Airport in Florida.

The captain of the plane, which had taken off from Heathrow Airport, had to radio the Miami control tower to ask for assistance because of difficulty seeing the turn-off point to the taxiway.

Police and rescue vehicles surrounded the aircraft and engineers had to tug the plane back from the end of the runway and back on to the taxiway, damaging two runway lights in the process.

The incident caused a 45-minute delay for Mr Blair and the other passengers. The Prime Minister, who was believed to be with his wife, Cherie, and some of his children, was travelling to Miami to stay with Bee Gee Robin Gibb.

BA made it clear today that the plane, which landed at 6.17pm local time on Boxing Day, had not overshot the runway but that there had been resurfacing work going on on the runway and there was a problem with seeing the turn-off point to the taxiway.

Agent Kim Bruce, of the United States Secret Service, said: "It was too close to the end of the runway so it had to be pulled back. It then made its turn then taxied over to the gate under its own steam.

"It was a little bit late arriving at the gate as a result but there were no injuries."

Laura Brown, spokeswoman for the American regulatory body the Federal Aviation Administration, said: "The plane took out a couple of runway lights at the end of the runway.

"The taxiway it missed was the last one at the end of the runway. It was on a runway safety area, which is a buffer zone at the end of the runway which is capable of handling the weight of the aircraft. It is not like it was in the grass or on the mud."

Ms Brown said it was not clear why the plane had overshot the runway, adding that it had not been decided whether or not to carry out an investigation.

John Campbell, co-manager of Gibb, 57, said: "It's a private holiday and it's a private arrangement. They are friends."

Passengers on board the plane told WSVN-TV in Miami that police and rescue vehicles quickly surrounded the aircraft.

Karen Queen, from London, said: "We just thought there must have been someone on board who shouldn't have been on board."

Gary Cooper, also from London, added: "The captain just said there was a problem with the aircraft and they were checking it out and making sure it was OK to move."

BA said today: "Flight BA 209 had taken off from Heathrow at 1.30pm. It landed on time at Miami. The captain stopped the plane as normal but the correct turn-off point to the taxiway was not visible.

"He radioed the control tower for assistance and engineers were dispatched to the aircraft to help it manoeuvre into position.

"The captain will make out a report and that will go to our flight operations team."