A United Express flight headed from Rapid City to Denver made an emergency landing Friday at Rapid City Regional Airport after the pilot had to shut down one of the plane's engines.

The pilot landed the aircraft safely, and none of the 24 passengers were hurt, according to Cameron Humphres, the airport's executive director.

"The pilot didn't even know at the time what the issue was," he said.

The Mesa Airlines-operated De Havilland Dash 8 departed about 4:30 p.m. and was about 2 miles off the end of the runway when the pilot made his move.

After declaring an emergency, which summons firefighters to the landing, the pilot safely landed the twin-engine turboprop aircraft, pulled into a taxiway and shut down the plane's engines.

"They could not taxi back to the terminal," Humphres said. "They cleared the runway and were towed back."

The passengers were rebooked for another flight. Humphres said he doesn't know what was wrong with the engine