A British Airways plane taking Tony Blair on his Christmas holiday was involved in a runway drama on landing in America.
The Boeing 747 plane, with 345 passengers on board, ended up on a buffer zone at the end of the runway after touching down at Miami airport in Florida.
The captain of the plane had to radio the Miami control tower to ask for assistance because of difficulty seeing the turnoff point to the taxiway.
Police and rescue vehicles surrounded the aircraft and engineers had to tug the plane back from the end of the runway and back on to the taxiway, damaging two runway lights in the process.
The incident caused a 45-minute delay for Mr Blair and the other passengers. No one was injured. The prime minister, who was believed to be with his wife, Cherie, and some of his children, was travelling to Miami to stay with former Bee Gee Barry Gibb.
Passengers on board the plane, which landed at 6.17pm local time on Boxing Day after taking off from Heathrow airport, told WSVN-TV in Miami that police and rescue vehicles quickly surrounded the aircraft.
Karen Queen, from London, said: "We just thought there must have been someone on board who shouldn't have been on board."
BA blamed resurfacing work taking place on the runway and problems with seeing the turnoff point to the taxiway for the incident.
Agent Kim Bruce, of the United States Secret Service, said: "It was too close to the end of the runway so it had to be pulled back. It then made its turn then taxied over to the gate under its own steam.
"It was a little bit late arriving at the gate as a result but there were no injuries."
Laura Brown of the American regulatory body the Federal Aviation Administration said: "The plane took out a couple of runway lights at the end of the runway.
"The taxiway it missed was the last one at the end of the runway. It was on a runway safety area, which is a buffer zone at the end which is capable of handling the weight of the aircraft. It is not like it was in the grass or on the mud."
Ms Brown said it was not clear why the plane had overshot the runway, adding that it had not been decided whether or not to carry out an investigation.
Mr Blair's Christmas visit to Mr Gibb's home was a "private arrangement", according to John Campbell, co-manager of Gibb, 57, said: "They are friends," he said.