Boeing 737 forced to make emergency landing after explosion rattles plane

A Boeing 737 has made an emergency landing following an explosion.

The Norwegian flight bound for Paris left Stockholm's Arlanda airport, in Sweden, and was forced to circle the city in preparation for an emergency landing following the explosion. Debris was found on the runway as the plane circled the airport this morning.

The bang was heard as the plane took-off from the airport while 181 passengers were on board. It was later determined that the plane would return to Arlanda due to a "technical problem," a Norwegian press officer said.

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Police and paramedics raced to the runway following the explosion, which was found to have affected one of the tyres. "The plane took off as planned," the press officer added.

"But when it was in the air the pilot needed to turn around and go back to Arlanda due to technical problems." The Norwegian spokesperson said the pilot was preparing to make a hard landing.

"I understand it can feel unnerving, but the landing went off without any drama." One person who was at the airport at the time of the incident told Swedish outlet, Expressen, said a queue of planes built up due to the incident.

The planes were forced to divert to another runway and cars were seen driving out to the one with debris where an inspection is ongoing. "It is hard to speculate how serious this is," the press officer added.

"We take all such incidents seriously. It is very unusual." It is unclear whether anyone on board was injured as a result of the explosion.

Passenger Maya Carenco, who lives in Paris, told Expressen: "When [the plane] started, it shook a great deal. It shook and vibrated a lot.

"My legs are still vibrating. When we were in the air I did not know what happened but now that we have, I'm a bit shocked." Her mum and grandmother kept an eye on the plane via a plane monitoring website.

"They kept an eye on me and were apparently very concerned. But the pilot and staff on board were so calm that I was not concerned at all at the time, which was a good thing, in hindsight."