NORTH-EAST holidaymakers have told how they feared they would die after their plane was forced to turn back to the Caribbean because of mechanical problems.

Passengers said children prayed, women became hysterical and men cried when the Excel Airways plane aborted its journey from the Dominican Republic at the weekend.

Three hundred passengers were due to fly home from the Caribbean to Newcastle on Friday.

But the tourists had to board the 767 plane no less than four times -leading to a 36-hour delay -due to repeated problems with the plane's temperature control.

When the plane took off on Saturday night, the pilot suddenly decided to turn back.

Thirty-three-year-old mortgage advisor Nicky, who declined give her full name, was on the plane with her boyfriend, Steve.

"I really know what it feels like to think you are going to die," said Nicky, from School Aycliffe, near Darlington.

"We were flying over the Atlantic when the captain said there was a minor fault and we were going back.

"When the captain spoke to us we could hear some emergency warning system in the background of the cockpit."

Gary Laws, a 43-year-old prison officer from County Durham said that when passengers protested about the safety of the final flight, they were told they would have to pay for an alternative flight.

He said: "When the captain said he was taking the plane back, there was panic.

"Passengers were crying and screaming. I saw one little boy of about six praying, one of the stewardesses was crying and one guy, who said he had been a firefighter for 11 years, said he had never been so scared in his life."

Passengers were finally put on a different plane and arrived back in Newcastle late on Sunday afternoon.

An Excel spokeswoman said passengers were never in danger. She said: "We are extremely sorry. It was not the normal service we like to offer, but it was the right thing to do. The captain did not want to fly with a fault when he was so close to base. The fire tenders were on standby, but there was no emergency landing.

"The passengers were never in any danger. The aircraft has returned to England; it was brought in empty. The fault is rectified and it is fine."