St. Louis ? A Northwest Airlines plane made an emergency landing Saturday because of mechanical trouble with an engine and the landing gear.

The DC-9 was traveling from Memphis, Tenn., to Minneapolis when it was diverted to St. Louis about 10:25 a.m. because of a report that an engine was out.

The pilot also reported trouble with the plane’s nose gear, said Eric Patton, operations specialist for Lambert Airport.

The crew had to lower the nose gear manually, and passengers were instructed to bend down into a crouch position for landing.

The plane, which had 62 people on board, landed safely at about 11:15 a.m.

Some passengers said they wondered whether the problems were due to replacement workers who have been maintaining Northwest’s planes since the airline’s mechanics went on strike three weeks ago.

But Steve MacFarlane, assistant national director of the striking Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn., said it would be impossible at this point to say if a replacement mechanic was to blame.

Northwest spokeswoman Shawn Brumbaugh said it’s too early to speculate on the causes of the problems.