A major emergency was called and fire services were on standby while roads around the airport were closed for more than 30 minutes before the jet, with 132 passengers on board, made a safe landing.
Shortly before 9 am the pilot of the flight reported problems with the control flaps on the wings – soon after taking off from Jersey.
Flying low across the Channel, the Boeing 737 was diverted to Bournemouth’s Hurn airport, where a full-scale emergency operation was put into place.
The jet circled the runway for several minutes to burn off excess fuel.
A fire engine followed the aircraft along the main runway as it touched down safely with only partial flaps operating shortly after 9.30 am.
Anxious passengers cheered and clapped as the plane came to a halt just yards from the end of the runway.
