SYDNEY, March 18 (Reuters) - A plane carrying Australian Prime Minister John Howard was forced to make an emergency landing during a trip to southern Iraq on Saturday, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Howard was not hurt in the incident, which occurred when the loading bay of his military transport plane filled with smoke, it said.

Howard was flying to Baghdad on Saturday after visiting Australian troops serving in southern Iraq.

A burning smell seeped into the cockpit and Howard had to put on an emergency gas mask. The cause of the smoke was not immediately obvious, the report said.

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft returned to the airstrip at Talil airbase and Howard was rushed off the plane, accompanied by his bodyguards.

Asked how he felt as the plane landed, Howard said he was in very good hands.

"I'd rather be in the hands of the RAAF than anybody else in a situation like that - that's my view," he said.

"Essentially the pilots, the crew reacted very well," said Australian Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, who was traveling with Howard.

"They turned back immediately, followed the checklist procedures, did a landing and of course came to the end of the runway here and we evacuated the aircraft," Houston said.

AlertNet news is provided by