US plane makes emergency landing in Houston

WASHINGTON - A United Boeing 777 bound for Amsterdam was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing in Houston on Thursday after the plane's second engine shut down, officials said.

There were no injuries or further problems upon landing, United Airlines spokesman Luke Punzenberger told AFP in an emailed statement.

"As a precautionary measure, Flight 58 from Houston to Amsterdam returned to IAH because the crew identified an issue with one of the engines.

"The Boeing 777 aircraft, which was carrying 223 passengers and 15 crew, landed safely and without incident in Houston at 5:13 pm" local time (2213 GMT), the statement said, adding that the aircraft was being reviewed by maintenance staff.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the incident, saying the plane "landed ... without further incident after declaring an emergency with #2 engine shutdown."

Earlier this month, a Boeing 777 crashed while landing at San Francisco's international airport, killing three people and wounding more than 180.

The Asiana jet from Shanghai via Seoul clipped a sea wall with its tail as it came in to land at the US airport on July 6 and skidded out of control before catching fire.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the crash.