The United Airlines Boeing 777 was en route from Frankfurt to Washington when it made a mayday call over the Hebridean island of Tiree.

Stornoway and Prestwick rescue crews were both put on standby and three Strathclyde fire crews were called to the emergency.

The crew had the fire under control by the time the plane landed safely and no-one was injured.

	Engineers will obviously look at it and we're waiting for an engineer for the specific type of aircraft, a Boeing 777, to arrive in Scotland   Malcolm Robertson BAA

Malcolm Robertson, spokesman for airport operators the British Airport Authority, said the alarm was raised at about 2200 GMT.

"They discovered the problem roughly 150 kilometres west of Scotland so it diverted to the nearest airport, which happened to be Glasgow.

"We put our emergency procedures in place and the aircraft landed safely.

"Our understanding is that the fire was in the cockpit and it is also our understanding that it was under control by the time it landed at Glasgow.

"Engineers will obviously look at it and we're waiting for an engineer for the specific type of aircraft, a Boeing 777, to arrive in Scotland."

Passengers were taken to hotels in Glasgow and were expected to continue their journeys on Monday.