A plane skidded off a runway and plunged into a ditch at a busy airport last night.

The Boeing 737 did a nosedive while taxiing at Orlando International Airport (OIA) - where tens of thousands of Brits head every year on their way to Disney World.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, the nose gear of the aircraft collapsed while it was being pulled into a maintenance hangar.

Carolyn Fennell from OIA told Click Orlando the Southwest Airlines plane was moving from a gate to a maintenance facility on airport grounds when it somehow ended up off the runway.

She said there were no passengers on the plane at the time of the incident.

Plane
Maintenance: No one was injured when the plane came off the runway

Two crew members were on board but were not injured, she added.

A witness told Fox Orlando the plane was being directed to a maintenance area when it veered off the pavement onto the grass and into a ditch.

The accident led to one runway being closed, but arrivals and departures at the airport were not affected.

Plane
Nosedive: The Boeing 737 skidded off a runway at Orlando airport