Premier Alex Scott arrived safely in Bermuda last night after his plane from London made a daring landing at Bermuda International Airport in strong gale force winds.

The British Airways plane had planned to divert to Boston, Massachusetts if necessary but it touched down on schedule shortly before 6.30 p.m. and then left at 8.40 p.m.

Air Canada was the only other flight which managed to land at the airport yesterday thanks to snowstorms on the US East Coast and high winds in Bermuda.

However the weather did prevent the Air Canada flight from returning to Toronto on schedule. Passengers had boarded and the plane had taxied on to the runway before the pilot decided it would be too dangerous to attempt a take-off.

Instead, the flight taxied back to the terminal, where passengers waited on board for three and a half hours before the pilot was able to execute a successful takeoff at 4.35 p.m.

?It has not been one of the better days to travel to Bermuda,? said airport General Manager Jim Howes last night.

?You could say we had a double barrel hit today.?

In the morning, flights to Bermuda were delayed and cancelled thanks to the snowstorm on the northeast coast of the US.

The US Air flight from Philadelphia, the American Airlines morning flight from New York, and the Delta flight from Boston were all cancelled, said Mr. Howes.

By the afternoon, as the weather improved and runways were cleared in the US, winds were starting to pick up in Bermuda, he said. ?As a result, the Continental flight from Newark and the Delta flight from Atlanta, both already en route, had to divert back (to Newark and Atlanta).?

At Press time last night, Mr. Howes said as far as he knew all flights for today would go ahead as scheduled as weather forecasts predict improved conditions.

But he added Delta would lay on an extra flight from and to Atlanta, arriving here at 1 p.m. and then departing again about an hour later.

He said a shift in wind direction had allowed the British Airways flight to land, despite wind speeds of around 45 knots.

Last night, some passengers said they had been concerned after being told at the last minute the plane had enough fuel to make two attempts at landing but then might have to divert to the US.

?I was a little bit nervous,? said Peter Martin, 36, who had been away on a business trip to Munich, Germany. ?The landing was smooth though. I guess it?s possible that they were more eager to land because the Premier was on the plane.?

Linda Cabral, who was waiting to meet her son and his girlfriend, said: ?I heard on the radio that the flight might not land. I was a bit worried about them.?

Premier Scott, who cut short his vacation to Australia and Singapore to come home following the death of Finance Minister Eugene Cox, said the flight had been a bit bumpy.

?It made it interesting. We could hear the engines of the plane increasing a bit as we were flying along. There was a headwind of about 110 miles per hour. But if anyone can land in this weather it?s British Airways.

?I?m so happy to be home. We would have moved heaven and earth to get here tonight.?

The night was made even more hectic for passengers after the high winds set off a fire alarm at the airport and passengers, including around 100 who had already gone through to the departure lounge, had to evacuate the building.

After a few minutes, they were then allowed back inside, although they had to go security again.

@EDITRULE:

Yesterday?s storm could have been much worse for staff and customers at The Living Centre, a Victoria Street furniture store.

At around 2.15 p.m. a tornado-like gust of wind managed to force its way into the shop, creating a strong vacuum effect which ripped off a large section of the ceiling.

The episode lasted just about 30 seconds, according to the store?s design consultant Shelley Porter-Noonan, but considerable damage was caused to some of the furniture on sale.

?It was just like a whirlwind in here.?

When it was all over, large ceiling tiles were scattered around on the floor and ripped out electrical cables could be seen jutting out of the ceiling.

?Thank God nobody was hurt,? said Ms Porter-Noonan. ?There was a pregnant woman sitting over here but it just missed her.?