News: Delta Airlines with 168 on board forced to make emergency landing

A flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas was forced to make an emergency landing today after the captain was accidentally locked out of the cockpit.

Officials at McCarran International Airport received a distress call from the Delta Air Lines flight at about 12.10pm after the cockpit door malfunctioned when the pilot tried to return to the controls.

'About half way through [the 2.5-hour flight] there seemed to be some talking at the front of the plane. You could see the captain out there,' passenger Jesse Dougherty told ABC News. 

'There wasn't a huge panic but some confusion.'

The captain explained the situation to the 168 people on board and they reportedly broke out into spontaneous applause when the plane landed safely with the first officer at the controls.