A Copa Airlines plane carrying 166 passengers and six crew members en route to the Paraguayan capital of Asunción, returned to the Tocumen International Airport on  Friday, May 17, as a preventive measure after a failure indicator in the landing gear retraction system was activated.

The captain in command of the  Boeing 737-800 aircraft followed the established safety protocols, landed smoothly and moved to its designated gate, the airline said.in  a statement.

"The plane remained in a waiting pattern to consume fuel, so as to be lighter when landing," said a Copa spokesman.

The passengers were transported to their destination on another company plane.