American Airlines plane makes emergency landing

Kingston: An American Airlines plane has made a safe emergency landing after the pilot reported a fire in the cockpit, a smoking engine and a loss of fuel, Turks & Caicos Islands officials said.

A spokeswoman for American Airlines disputed the report of a fire, saying the jet made the emergency landing yesterday due to a "mechanical issue related to one of the engines" and an indication of "low oil." "There was no fire anywhere," spokeswoman Laura Masvidal said. She said a maintenance team was still evaluating the aircraft. The British Caribbean territory`s disaster management and emergencies department said there were no injuries among the 175 people aboard the Boeing 757. It said the flight was travelling from Trinidad & Tobago`s capital of Port-of-Spain to Miami when the pilot requested clearance for an emergency landing. "The pilot reported a fire in the cockpit and that the left engine was smoking and dripping fuel. The aircraft had one hour and thirty minutes of fuel on board," the department said in a statement. It said the plane landed safely at 10:23 am local time at the international airport on Providenciales, the tiny Caribbean territory`s most populous island. American Airlines provided a replacement aircraft and the flight arrived in Miami late Tuesday afternoon, Masvidal said.