An Air Canada flight carrying 225 passengers and 13 crew members made an emergency landing in Toronto Wednesday, after one of its tires blew out.

A spokesperson for the airline said the plane was heading for London after taking off from Calgary at around 9:15 p.m. Eastern Time (0115 GMT), when the blown tire was discovered.

It was forced to land at Toronto's Pearson International Airport just after 1:30 a.m. Eastern Time (0530 GMT).

The plane was sent to Toronto in order to use up some of its fuel to make it lighter for landing, the spokesperson said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2008)