Ten injured in emergency landing

The airbus A330 was flying from Toronto to Lisbon

LISBON, Portugal -- Ten passengers were slightly injured when a Canadian passenger plane made an emergency landing in Portugal's Azores Islands.

The Air Transat Airbus 330 flying from Toronto to Lisbon was forced to glide onto the runway after losing fuel over the Atlantic, Paulo Lagarto, a spokesman for Portugal's civil aviation agency, told Reuters.

The tyres exploded as the plane landed at Lajes Airport at 0546 GMT, and airport emergency services immediately put out a fire, Lagarto said. The airport was closed.

A spokesman for Portugal's civial aviation authority said the plane "told the control tower that it had had a loss of fuel and was going to have to divert to Lajes."

He added: "After that, it said that it only had five minutes of fuel and probably would not reach Lajes. Therefore, it was going to have to glide in."

Montreal-based Air Transat, Canada's biggest charter airline, said there were 291 passengers and 13 crew members on board and the plane had been in service since 1999.

A company statement said: "At this point Air Transat is focusing on supporting its passengers and their families."

Passenger Maria de Fatima told Portuguese state-run television that people on the plane realised about an hour before landing that the plane was in trouble.

"We didn't know what was going to happen," she said. "The captain was very brave."

A spokesman for the Azores emergency service told Reuters that nine passengers were treated for slight injuries.

An airport spokesman said there were 295 passengers onboard. The number of crew members was not immediately known.

Passenger Jose Gaspar told Lusa news agency that people started shouting and panicking when the plane hit turbulence during the descent. Passengers donned life jackets.

Air Transat is Canada's largest charter airline.