Air Transat Flight 236

Air Transat Flight 236

The Airbus A330-243 involved in the incident.
Incident summary
Date	August 24, 2001 (2001-08-24)
Summary	Fuel starvation caused by fuel leak due to improper maintenance
Site	Lajes Air Force Base, Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal
Passengers	293
Crew	13
Injuries (non-fatal)	18 (minor)
Survivors	306 (all)
Aircraft type	Airbus A330-243
Operator	Air Transat
Registration	C-GITS
Flight origin	Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Destination	Portela Airport Lisbon, Portugal

Air Transat Flight 236 was a transatlantic flight bound for Lisbon, Portugal, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that lost all power while flying over the Atlantic Ocean on August 24, 2001. The Airbus A330 suffered a complete power loss due to a fuel leak caused by improper maintenance. Captain Robert Piché, 48, an experienced glider pilot, and First Officer Dirk de Jager, 28, flew the plane to a successful emergency landing in the Azores, saving all 306 people (293 passengers and 13 crew) on board. Most of the passengers on the flight were Canadians visiting Europe and Portuguese expatriates returning to visit family in Portugal.

In about 19 minutes, Piché and De Jager flew their plane without power some 120 km (75 miles), further than any passenger jet in history. The previous record had also been set by Canadian pilots, during the infamous 1983 Gimli Glider incident.

Flight TS 236 took off from Toronto at 0:52 (UTC) on Friday, August 24, 2001 (local time: 8:52 pm (ET) on Thursday, August 23), bound for Lisbon, Portugal. There were 293 passengers and thirteen crew members on board. The aircraft was an Airbus A330-243 registered as C-GITS that first flew on March 16, 1999, configured with 362 seats and placed in service by Air Transat on April 28, 1999. It was powered by two Rolls Royce Trent 772B-60 engines capable of delivering 71,100lb thrust each. Leaving the gate in Toronto, the aircraft had 46.9 tonnes of fuel on board, 4.5 tonnes more than required by regulations.