A passenger on a BermudAir flight that repeatedly circled close to the island yesterday evening before it landed praised the pilot for his handling of a challenging situation.

The flyer told how fire trucks were waiting on the runway for the arrival of the aircraft from Boston after the flight crew received a cautionary warning.

Police confirmed this morning that roads were closed in the vicinity of LF Wade International Airport in relation to a situation there.

BermudAir said last night that its flight from Boston landed safely and without incident.

A spokeswoman added this afternoon: “On approach to Bermuda, the flight crew on our delayed 2T302 from Boston received a cautionary warning prior to landing.

“As procedure dictates, the crew took the aircraft into a holding pattern to investigate.

“At this point, customers on board were informed of the precautions the crew was taking. As is normal in these circumstances, emergency services were put on standby.

“The aircraft landed safely and proceeded to the gate without incident.

“Our technical team later investigated the cautionary warning and the aircraft returned to regular service this morning.

“At no point was there any risk of safety to our passengers or crew.”

The passenger said earlier: “The flight was due to depart from Boston on Monday at 11.35am and the plane was fully boarded. We were on the runway and the pilot noticed that there was a malfunction and we had to go back to the airport.

“The plane was disembarked. We waited for several hours until, in the afternoon, we were told there was a part that had to be fixed on the plane. We had to stay overnight.”

Passengers were advised that the service would run at 4pm yesterday.

The traveller said: “It was the same aircraft; they said they had fixed the part.

“There was no issue with the flight but when we reached Bermuda, we were just circling around Bermuda and we circled for about an hour without being informed — I just thought, maybe Bermuda’s not ready for us landing.”

The pilot reportedly advised passengers to take advice from crew members and warned that the landing was not expected to be smooth.

“The landing itself was rough but it wasn’t terrible like you would get in a storm,” the passenger said. “But there were tons of fire engines waiting on the runway for us.”

They added: “It was all a very scary experience.”

While the traveller noted that the landing turned out to be “rough but safe”, they said that some people were crying as a result of the concerns.

They added: “Hats off to the pilot; you could tell he was in a difficult position.”

Information on flightradar24.com showed that the aircraft left Boston Logan International Airport at 4.24pm yesterday with a scheduled arrival time in Bermuda of 6.57pm, but landed at 7.55pm.

A post on TheBermudaFlyer Instagram account said that the Causeway was temporarily closed owing to a matter related to a returning BermudAir flight from Boston.

It added: “On the way back, the flight crew requested to hold to the east of the island to burn fuel, allowing for a lighter landing weight.

“The aircraft landed and taxied to the terminal with no incident.

“It is normal procedure for the Bermuda Police Service to close the Causeway and Kindley Field Road during an aircraft precautionary or emergency landing.”

A spokesman for the Bermuda Police Service said: “The BPS can confirm officers assisted with road closures in relation to a situation at LF Wade International Airport.”

The Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service was also asked for comment.

• UPDATE: this article has been updated with additional comments from BermudAir