A TERRIFIED passenger feared for his life after a co-pilot lifted a hatch to check the landing wheels were in place on the plane he was travelling on.

Mark Phoenix, of Elmwood Road, Barnton, was on board the easyJet Boeing 737 from Amsterdam to Liverpool when the drama unfolded on Saturday afternoon.

After an undercarriage warning light came on in the cockpit the plane had to circle over Liverpool for more than an hour before diverting to Manchester for an emergency landing.

Cabin crew then demonstrated safety drills as the 115 passengers witnessed the co-pilot lift up the aisle hatch and look through a spy-hole.

Yesterday Mark, 22, who was crowned Mr UK last month, told of the horror he felt as they came into land not knowing whether the wheels were locked underneath.

"People don't realise just how serious it was but we could all have ended up dead," he said.

"When we saw how the cabin crew reacted I knew it wasn't something that happens every day.

"Grown men were crying and people were being sick - we weren't sure whether we would be taking our last breaths."

Mark, who had been returning from a three-day break in Holland with two friends, added: "I was going out for a drink that night to celebrate still being alive but when I started to think about what had happened I just felt sick instead."

A spokesman for easyJet said: "The only problem was with a faulty light but the crew could not take a chance and had to execute an emergency landing."