TOM DALEY IN RUSSIA EMERGENCY LANDING SCARE

Diving star and sex symbol Tom Daley and his boyfriend screenwriter Dustin Lance Black were involved in mid-air emergency on Monday.

The two were on their way to London from Shanghai on a Virgin Atlantic flight when the aircraft was forced to make a landing in the Russian city of Irkutsk.

Daley and Black posted images and video on social media of the aircraft dumping fuel before it came in for the landing, where it was grounded for some time.

“Scary to emergency land in RUS after recent events, yet no word on what problem is after hour surrounded by fire engines #VirginAtlantic,” tweeted Daley.

Black wrote on Facebook: “EMERGENCY LANDING into a Russian town. This was our view over Mongolia. #VirginAtlantic #ScaryAsHell”

Virgin Atlantic confirmed that the aircraft carrying 286 passengers and 15 crew, was “diverted to Irkutsk Airport, Russia, as a precautionary measure due to a technical issue detected inflight.”

It appears that passengers may have had to stay in Russia overnight. Daley tweeted earlier today: “We are coming home!!!! Flight leaves in around an hour… can’t wait to be back home!”

Daley had been returning home after competing in the diving World Cup final in Shanghai, in which he disappointingly came fourth in the 10m platform.

Last week, the Olympic bronze medallist made headlines after he was voted by readers of Britain’s Attitude gay magazine as the sexiest man of the year, a fact that could well have been deemed “gay propaganda” in Russia.