Six people were injured when a 126-strong Boeing plane landed at Georgetown Airport, the capital of Guyana, on Friday.
South Dakota State Transportation Secretary David Patterson said the Fly Jamaica plane was on its way to Toronto when it encountered a problem with the hydraulic system shortly after take-off.
He added that the problem prompted the pilot to return it to the airport, where it slipped out of the runway when it landed in an emergency.
He said the injuries were not serious, noting that the injured were taken to a hospital adjacent to the airport, in the country on the eastern border of Venezuela.
There are no reports of bone fractures, "the minister told a news conference at the airport.
Aircraft malfunction
The Boeing 757-200 was carrying 118 passengers, including 82 Canadians, as well as a crew of eight.
After taking off at 2:10 am, the pilot reported a problem with the hydraulic system 10 minutes after the flight.
Army and police forces rushed to the scene and imposed a security cordon, while investigators began their work, and the US National Transportation Safety Board was informed.
"We can confirm that FLY Jamaica's Flight 356 flight to Toronto has returned to Georgetown because of a technical problem and has suffered a landing time incident," the airline said.
"At this time, we believe that all 118 passengers and eight crew members are okay, we are providing local assistance and we will announce more information when available," she said.
Recognition of a fatal mistake
A Boeing company crashed in the sea late last October carrying 188 people, all of whom were killed.
And the aircraft belonging to the company "Leon Air" Indonesia, was on a flight from the capital Jakarta to the city of Bengal Penang on the island of Sumatra.
After the disaster, Boeing admitted a fatal error, warning airlines of misreading flight control programs that measure the angle of the aircraft, and alerted pilots to the action they should follow in these cases.
It was considered the first explicit sign of an error in the aircraft system that may have caused the Indonesian plane disaster.
