Airport for more than an hour on Saturday evening.

About 150 travellers were kept on the plane at the end of the runway for an hour-and-half after a hydraulic leak was detected after the aircraft landed.

Friends and relatives waiting to meet arrivals also complained they were told nothing in the anxious minutes as they watched the plane sitting lifelessly surrounded by emergency vehicles.

But passengers commended Continental Airways stewards who were "as helpful and polite as they could be''.

Aircraft drama "To be fair the pilot did keep us up-to-date with what was happening every 15 minutes or so,'' frequent traveller Mary Leale said last night.

Ms Leale, a New Jersey actress who has visited Bermuda eight times this year, said the drama began before the 727 aircraft had even left Newark.

"There were problems there but I don't know if they were related,'' she said.

"We were delayed for about an hour.

"And then when we were coming down here it was really bumpy -- just terrible -- and different to all the other landings I've experienced.

"Straight away they announced that there was a problem -- that the hydraulic system had shut down.'' She said tension rose among the passengers as they watched emergency vehicles surround the plane which was kept on the runway for an hour and a half after it landed -- already an hour late -- at about 4.30 p.m.

"We were all concerned about why these emergency vehicles were in place. You feel helpless and vulnerable when you're trapped on a plane and there's nothing you can do but wait.

"A few college students were singing Christmas carols to try to keep everyone's spirits up. But we were all really anxious to get off the plane -- the minutes seemed to take forever.

"Things cross your mind like hijackings and terrorists and you get sceptical that maybe they're not telling you the full story because they don't want to alarm you.'' But Bermuda International Airport General Manager Jack Gordon yesterday played down the drama, insisting it was nothing serious.

An Airport Operations spokesman confirmed the plane suffered a leak in the hydraulic system.

But he said it only occurred after the plane landed -- and its descent onto the runway was "business as usual''.

The leak meant the plane could not be steered by the usual means so it had to be towed into the terminal after a wait which he said was just over an hour.

"It was a fault just like can happen with a car. One day you turn the key and the engine starts with no problem, and the next day you turn the key and nothing happens.'' He said it was the "automatic response'' for emergency vehicles to attend an aircraft when there was a problem and it did not indicate passengers were in danger.

Although the hydraulic fluid was leaking out of the aircraft, there was no chance of fire breaking out, he said.

Continental's most senior staff member in Bermuda, Steven Darrell, was not available for comment yesterday.