In the early hours of August 24, 2001, Air Transat Flight 236, an Airbus A330, was en route from Toronto, Canada to Lisbon, Portugal when it encountered one of aviation’s rarest emergencies: complete fuel exhaustion in midair, hundreds of kilometers from the nearest landing site, over the vast Atlantic Ocean.

On board were 306 people—passengers and crew—when the aircraft lost all thrust from both engines at nearly 40,000 feet (about 12,000 meters), far from land. At that moment, survival seemed impossible. Yet, the unimaginable happened: the plane safely landed at a small airbase on the Azores islands, Portugal, after the longest engine-out glide in commercial aviation history—about 120 km.

**A Fateful Flight**

The aircraft took off from Toronto Pearson Airport at 8:52 p.m. local time. Initially, everything was normal: stable weather, good visibility. No one could have predicted that, just hours later, the flight would face one of the most intense crises aviation had ever seen.

More than four hours into the flight, while cruising over the Atlantic—far from any airport—the pilots noticed abnormal behavior from the right engine: falling fuel pressure and warning alerts. At first, they suspected a sensor or warning system malfunction. But the alerts kept coming.

Within 15 minutes, the right engine shut down completely. Soon after, the left engine followed.

**A 200-Ton Aircraft—Gliding Through the Sky**

With both engines out, the Airbus A330 essentially became a giant glider—no thrust, no power, no hydraulics except emergency backups. In the cabin, lights dimmed, silence fell, and panic began to spread among the passengers.

Captain Robert Piché, a veteran pilot with experience on many aircraft types, and First Officer Dirk De Jager were now facing a situation for which no commercial pilot is ever fully trained: flying a large jet with no engines.

Using exceptional skill, they calculated the distance and wind direction, deciding to glide the aircraft to Lajes Field, a military airbase on Terceira Island in the Azores—120 km away.

**The Historic Glide—and a Breathtaking Landing**

With no engines and no thrust, even the smallest error could have sent the plane into the ocean. For more than 20 minutes, the pilots flew the Airbus like a glider, using every air current and ounce of remaining energy.

As they neared the airport, the plane descended too quickly—unable to control speed without engines. When the landing gear touched down, the plane hit the runway hard, bursting two tires and straining the braking system. But a miracle happened—the plane stopped safely, with no fatalities. Some passengers suffered minor injuries, but all 306 people survived.

Pilots, passengers, and investigators agreed: this was one of the most miraculous engine-out landings in aviation history.

**Why Did the Plane Run Out of Fuel?**

The subsequent investigation revealed the root cause was a serious maintenance error.

Specifically, a hydraulic line on the right side had been replaced with the wrong material during earlier maintenance. Instead of a corrosion-resistant alloy, a technician had installed a standard aluminum tube, which wore out quickly in operation, causing a fuel leak.

The danger was compounded because the fuel didn’t leak outside the aircraft—it was drawn into the system and transferred from the right tank to the left through connecting pipes. The fuel gauges didn’t detect abnormal loss because:

The Airbus A330’s fuel system only measures the fuel present in the tanks—it cannot detect fuel leaking into the hydraulic system.

When the pilots saw the right tank’s fuel dropping rapidly, they believed the aircraft was unbalanced. Following standard procedures, they transferred fuel from the left tank to the right to correct the imbalance—unaware that this was accelerating the loss through the hidden leak.

When both tanks ran dry, both engines shut down. There was no direct warning of a leak, and no system detected that fuel was “disappearing” into the hydraulics—because none was leaking out of the plane.

**Were the Pilots at Fault?**

This question was hotly debated at the time. However, the official accident investigation concluded:

– The pilots followed proper flight procedures, and the fuel quantity was checked and filled before departure.
– During the flight, the crew received low fuel pressure warnings, but had no clear reason to suspect a leak—especially since the system didn’t indicate one.
– Transferring fuel between tanks to balance was standard practice—but unfortunately, in this case, it caused fuel to be lost faster due to the hidden leak.

Thus, the pilots were not held personally responsible; instead, Air Transat was found primarily at fault for the serious maintenance error.

**Aftermath and Consequences**

After the incident, Air Transat faced heavy criticism and was forced to overhaul its maintenance procedures and retrain technical staff. Inspections for fuel leaks and standards for replacement parts were tightened.

Captain Robert Piché and First Officer De Jager were hailed as heroes. They remained calm, calculated, and managed to glide the aircraft to safety in a situation where survival seemed impossible.

The story of Air Transat Flight 236 is a powerful example of three things: the critical importance of proper maintenance, the limitations of automated monitoring technology, and the extraordinary courage of people in crisis.

Though the cause was a seemingly minor technical error, the consequences could have been catastrophic if not for the skill and composure of the flight crew. Thanks to a perfect glide and remarkable calm, 306 lives were saved—and aviation learned an invaluable lesson.