A Delta flight was forced to do an emergency landing after the nose landing gear failed to come down.

The plane – travelling from Atlanta to Charlotte – circled as it tried to fix the problem, but passengers were eventually told to get in the brace position.

In audio from air traffic control, the pilot warns: “We have a nose wheel update indication, we’re gonna have to go ahead and declare and emergency.”

Pictures show the plane with its nose touching the runway and the emergency slide deployed but Delta said no injuries were reported.

The runway was closed for about eight hours while the jet was removed and the tarmac inspected.

One woman, who said her son was on the flight, tweeted a picture of the plane and praised the pilot for a “phenomenal job”.

Delta said in a statement that landing gear failures were a “rare occurrence” and that its crews “train extensively to safely manage through many scenarios”.

It apologised for the inconvenience and added: “Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people.”