A planeload of sun-seekers endured some scary moments Friday morning, when their Sunwing Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Ottawa.

Flight 326 had left Ottawa at 6 a.m., and was en route to Varadero when it turned around and headed back.

The Ottawa Fire department originally said there had been a fire in the cockpit, but later said a report of smoke had prompted the turnaround, not an actual fire.

Passengers who were aboard the plane disembarked at Ottawa International Airport, where they awaited another plane to take them to their vacation destination.

Andre Desjardins, a passenger from Rockland, Ont. who was aboard the plane with his wife Monique, said the couple hopes to continue to their destination -- aboard a different plane, of course.

"We were up in the air, the smoke started filling the cabin of the plane, the pilot came on and said 'listen we have to make an emergency landing,' so here we are. It was a very short-lived holiday let's put it this way," Desjardins told CTV Ottawa.

Monique said no one panicked during the brief but terrifying ordeal.

"Some people were yelling 'fire, fire!' but people were really calm and nobody panicked. We were kind of scared but you have to stay calm in that kind of situation," she said.

Aline Neal, who was aboard the flight with her husband and their three children, said little information was communicated to passengers.

"There were no attendants coming right away to reassure us so it was really scary to have to go through that and my daughters of course were upset and my little one was crying," she said.

However, Neal's daughter Rita said she stayed strong for her 10-year-old sister, and tried to think about how she would deal with the situation in the pilot's seat.

"I want to be a commercial airline pilot when I get older so I have to learn not to be scared of these things," she said.

Airport Authority spokeswoman Krista Kealey confirmed Friday there was no fire on the plane, and there were no injuries.

The Ottawa Fire Department said it was called to the airport as a precaution but did not have to take action.

With files from The Canadian Press