ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - A Learjet 45 with reported landing gear problems made an emergency landing at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on Monday afternoon, an airport official said.

The aircraft reportedly had eight passengers aboard and had been headed to the smaller St. Louis Downtown Airport, which is across the Mississippi River in Cahokia, Illinois, according to an official at that airport.

Lambert-St. Louis spokesman Jeff Lea said that all the passengers had gotten off the plane and that it would be inspected and towed from the runway. The airport had rescue vehicles on hand in case there had been problems during the landing.

(Reporting By Tim Bross and Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Paul Thomasch, Cynthia Johnston and Tim Dobbyn)