PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — The head of corporate communications at Caribbean Airlines (CAL) says the emergency landing of an aircraft at St Lucia’s Hewanorra International airport last weekend was “quite routine”.

According to Dionne Ligoure, the emergency landing on Sunday afternoon was made after a warning light came on in the cockpit of the plane and not due to an engine fire, as had been reported.

In response to a suggestion that it was a common thing for warning lights to come on in the cockpits of the ATR aircraft, Ligoure said it was the first time such an incident had happened with this particular plane, but admitted that there had been such incidents with other ATR aircraft.

It was initially reported that the pilot of the ATR aircraft had informed airport officials of an engine fire shortly after 3:00 pm (local time) last Sunday.

The plane landed safely and was met by emergency services and there were no reported injuries among the 68 passengers aboard.

Ligoure said the cockpit crew and flight attendants followed all the proper steps and displayed professionalism in keeping the passengers calm.

Concerning the use of the aircraft in the aftermath of the incident, Ligoure said the airline business is a highly regulated one and that “independent bodies” have to inspect the aircraft after an incident.

She said the aircraft cannot return to service without “particular and rigorous” inspections being made, and the affected aircraft remained on the ground so that those inspections could take place.

The aircraft returned to Trinidad and Tobago on Friday after inspections were completed.