EMERGENCY teams at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston had to spring to into action last evening as a Jet Blue aircraft on its way from Miami, Florida to Bogota, Colombia, had to make an emergency landing in Jamaica.

Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Colonel Oscar Derby told the Observer that the flight landed safely at 8:00 pm after declaring an in-flight emergency, the nature of which had not been ascertained up to press time last night.

None of the passengers or crew were injured in the emegrency landing.

Colonel Derby added that his teams were conducting checks to determine what led to the emergency declaration by the airplanes' crew, but noted that Jamaican airports are always ready to assist in these instances:

"Our airports are alternates for aircraft overflying Jamaica. So if there is a problem with an airplane, in-flight and they have to land, we are equipped to handle it and it is normal that we assist," said Derby.

He added that other flights were put on hold while the CAA's teams inspected the runways to ensure there were no problems prior to allowing them to resume their flights, as is standard operating procedure for the country's airports.