On a flight to France, "crying and screaming" passengers were ordered to put on their life jackets and brace themselves for a crash landing at sea after one of the plane's engines failed in mid-air.

A holidaymaker aboard the Europe Airpost airliner, on a charter flight from Split in Croatia to Nantes, has revealed the horrifying ordeal.

Tourist Benjamin Girard, who was travelling with his wife and daughters aged four and six months, described how "even the cabin crew were terrified".

The mid-air drama finally ended when the Boeing 737 jet finally "bumped down" in Venice, Italy, on August 23 with all passengers and crew unhurt. 

Mr Girard, from France said: "It began soon after take off when the pilot said we were about to fly into some turbulence.

"Then people at the back of the plane said one engine had stopped working, and this was soon cBonfirmed by the pilot.

"He said we would have to make an emergency landing in Venice, and joked it would be a great chance to visit the city." 

However, the joke quickly turned to panic when passengers were warned of an explosion and told to put on their life jackets and remove any jewellery.

The father-of-two continued: "He said we would have to make a crash landing at sea and warned us there could be an explosion.

"Everyone was terrified, even the cabin crew. One steward was in a state of total panic and another just went pale and silent.

"When the pilot next came on he was crying. He said we had six minutes before we would crash, but that we should not panic.

"People we screaming out at the back of the plane." 

However, Europe Airpost has rubbished the reports that there was "panic on board" and said at no time was passengers safety put at risk.

In a statement, a spokesman said: "The flight from Split to Nantes experienced an incident with an engine. This was identified by the crew who took the decision to land in Venice and inform the passengers.

"It was a procedure practised by the crew, who landed the plane safely in Venice."