A PILOT has been hailed a hero for safely landing a plane full of holidaymakers after the flaps malfunctioned, forcing him to land at FULL SPEED.

The Jet2 airplane was on its way back from the Greek island of Crete to Leeds-Bradford airport when the drama happened.

The captain flew around in circles for around an hour before a decision was made to divert the jet to Manchester airport, which has a longer runway.

Some passengers fainted and others were sick during the drama at 3.30am on Sunday.

Flight LS444 touched down at full speed as waiting fire engines sprayed the tyres with water to keep them cool.

Passenger Jennifer Gilroy, 42, said passengers were told to adopt the brace position.

She added: " We were bracing ourselves, you could hear everything screeching. It came in at full speed, seriously fast, hitting the ground.

'It felt like the plane wasn’t going to stop. It kept going, going and going.'

"The pilot saved our lives, really. I was thinking if the plane catches fire, the jets are towards the back and would be the first to go. And we were sitting towards the back.

"It was a really good pilot, he kept us all calm. When we landed, he came out and spoke with every person."

Another female passenger told on social media how she had to keep calm for her teenage son.

She added: "It was just awful and my first thought was, 'oh my God, the plane was going to set on fire' but I had to be calm because my son was there.

"I'm not a great flyer. I've flown loads before but this time it was really stressful and I had to stop myself throwing up. It really has unsettled me and I'm glad I'm not going on holiday again too soon."

The budget airline firm said flight LS444 from Heraklion in Crete to Leeds Bradford had to go into a "holding pattern in order to assess a flap indication issue".

A Jet 2 spokeswoman said " The decision was taken to divert into Manchester Airport as a precautionary measure due to it having a longer runway to facilitate a smooth landing."

This latest incident with a Jet2 plane comes days after another jet travelling from Faro in Portugal to Leeds Bradford was forced to make an emergency landing in Bordeaux when cabin pressures dropped on August 10.

On Thursday, another Jet2 plane was met with fire engines and ambulance crews on arrival after cabin pressures dropped again on another flight from Newcastle to Dalaman meaning that too had to make an emergency landing.