A FORMER Bury Times journalist has spoken about his terrifying ordeal when an engine on a Manchester City executive jet caught fire.

Chris Bailey was one of 17 passengers aboard a Jetstream twin-engined turbo prop plane which was forced to make an unscheduled landing after one of its engines burst into flames.

The drama happened ten minutes after the plane had taken off from Southampton on Saturday following Manchester City's defeat at Portsmouth.

Chris (44), who lives in Whitefield, had been covering the game for the Manchester Evening News and was on board along with club officials for the 45-minute flight home.

The journalist, who worked for 14 years with the Bury Times both as sports reporter and then sports editor between 1991-95, recalled: "We were being served sandwiches and cold drinks when a thunderous explosion rocked the entire cabin of the 18-seater aircraft.

"The noise, like a mortar exploding, shook the cabin violently and the plane plummeted what seemed like hundreds of feet. My stomach churned like a fun fair ride, except this was far removed from fun as it is possible to get. Out of the window I could see a flame dancing in and out of the engine. I was thankful when it disappeared.

"There was not one person, I discovered later, who believed we were going survive. We all thought we were goners."

In the cockpit, Captain John Morris issued a Mayday call as he wrestled with the controls. Minutes later, the passengers were told the plane was heading for Farnborough Airport where it landed without problem. Chris went on: "We were safe, alive and Captain Morris received an ovation."

Reflecting on his ordeal, the father-of-one continued: "I don't like flying in the first place. The next game which will involve flying back to Manchester will be after the match against Arsenal later this month. And we could come back in the same aircraft. But my reasoning is that if this has happened once, then the odds on it happening again are extremely long."

Chris acknowledges that he and his fellow passengers had a lucky escape. "We were told this week that the altitude probably saved us. If this had happened right at the take off, there would have been no chance as there wouldn't have been the time to correct it."