An Air France A380 double-decker aircraft suffered a failure of one of its four engines in mid-Atlantic.

Air France said an engine on flight AF066 from Paris to Los Angeles had suffered "serious damage", forcing it to divert to Canada.

"Air France confirms that the crew of flight AF 066 operated by A380 from Paris-CDG to Los Angeles decided to divert to Goose Bay airport (Canada) following serious damage to one of its four engines," it said in a statement.

The plane landed safely. Air France sent a Boeing 777-300 and a B737 to get the 497 passengers of Flight AF066 to their destination.

Pictures showed the cowling around the No4 engine had disintegrated. The engine was produced by the Engine Alliance.