Boeing 777 carrying 300 passengers forced to make emergency landing on snow-covered runway

TENSE footage shows the moment a Boeing 777 carrying 300 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing on a remote snow-covered runway in Canada after an engine failure.

Swiss International flight 40 experienced a "technical irregularity" at approximately 36,000 feet during a California-bound trip from Zurich on Wednesday and touched down at Iqaluit Airport's sole landing strip at 3 p.m.

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Video shows plumes of snow fill the air as the commercial jet makes the emergency decent onto the runway, which usually accommodates much smaller aircraft.

The town mayor rushed to offer stranded passengers a tour of the city, where temperatures hovered around minus six degrees Fahrenheit, but they chose to remain on the plane until a replacement arrived from New York - 14 hours later.

Mayor Madeleine Redfern was eager for the passengers to soak in the city of just 6,000 people, suggesting a visit to the local museum and aquatic centre.

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But Airport director John Hawkins suggested they shouldn't stay overnight because there would not be enough hotel room to accommodate the large group.

Aviation photographer captured the footage of the landing, in which the plane looks disproportionately large as it descends onto the tarmac.

Hawkins told the : "The real issue was they only had one engine, but despite that it was a smooth landing."

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Bewildered passengers on the flight took to social media to talk about the landing.

Singer songwriter Leroy Sanchez was aboard the flight and updated followers about the landing, tweeting: "I'm stuck in the middle of the North Pole".

"Rescue plane just arrived. Crew getting ready to disembark everyone from the aircraft," he added in a separate tweet.

The passengers took off for New York at around 5 a.m. the next morning, before they headed to their final destination.