A Boeing 737-800 jet with nearly 180 passengers on board was forced to make an emergency landing on Tuesday evening at an airport in central China's Zhengzhou city.

A Boeing 737-800 plane [File Photo: Zhengzhou Evening News]

The plane, heading for Wuhan, took off at 17:55 from Beijing Capital International Airport, but had to halt the flight one hour later, the Zhengzhou Evening News reports.

Crew members said the emergency landing was due to the failure of fire extinguishers in the cargo hold, but a passenger revealed that someone witnessed fire and smoke rising from the engine. Fire engines and ambulances arrived after the jet's safe landing, said the passenger.

Li Bing from China Eastern Airline, who is in charge of the company's affairs in Zhengzhou airport, said they could not reveal the specific reasons for the incident until the check-up was completed.

The Boeing 737-800 was one of the six models reported last week with "potential safety hazards", as the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive on the tail flap mechanism of 160 Boeing 737 jets.

Li Bing said he had no idea if the plane had been inspected.

At around 20:00, the plane was declared fit to continue its journey, but passengers refused to board the plane, requesting a replacement.

After one and a half hours China Eastern replaced it with another Boeing 737-800.

Boeing 737 planes are included in the fleets of many of China's major airlines.