The dramatic moment a plane came close to disaster after two herons were sucked into an engine has been caught on camera.

The pilot sent out a May Day call minutes after the Thomson Fly Boeing 757 took off from Manchester Airport at 9.15am, on its way to Arrecife, Lanzarote, and was forced to make an emergency landing.

The birds had become caught in the starboard engine, causing flames to fly out the back.

A Manchester Airport spokesman emphasised that the engine itself did not catch fire, but the debris had burnt and given off smoke.

The pilot shut the engine down, circled the plane and dumped excess fuel before landing back at Manchester Airport around 10.30am.

The 221 passengers disembarked safely and continued their journey on a different flight around 1pm.

"Within minutes of being in the air, the plane suffered a double bird strike," the airport spokesman said.

"The aircraft's engines are designed to cope with bird strikes but because this case involved two very large birds being sucked in at once there were problems."

He said the plane could have safely flown with one engine but the pilot felt it prudent to have the damage checked out.

At no point were passengers in danger, he added.

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