What happened to Air Transat Flight 236? How an A330 fuel leak stopped both engines, and how Robert Piché's crew reached the Azores.
Air Transat Flight 236 ran out of fuel over the Atlantic on 24 August 2001 after incompatible parts fitted during engine maintenance allowed a hydraulic line to rub against and crack a fuel pipe. Robert Piché and Dirk de Jager glided the Airbus A330 about 65 nautical miles to Lajes. All 306 aboard survived.
This was a real-world accident in our Aviation & Real-World Flying coverage, not a simulated event. Flight TS236 was travelling from Toronto to Lisbon in an Airbus A330-243, registration C-GITS, with 293 passengers and 13 crew.
Air Transat Flight 236: what happened step by step
The emergency developed from confusing engine and fuel indications into a complete loss of thrust, followed by an approximately 19-minute glide to the Azores.
| Stage | What happened |
|---|---|
| Abnormal indications | The crew received unusual right-engine oil indications, followed by a growing difference between the fuel quantities in the wing tanks. |
| Fuel balancing | Believing they were dealing with an imbalance, the pilots opened the crossfeed system and changed the fuel-pump configuration. This allowed fuel from the unaffected side to supply the leaking right-engine circuit. |
| Diversion | As the fuel situation deteriorated, the crew diverted towards Lajes on Terceira Island and declared an emergency. |
| First engine stopped | The right engine flamed out at about 06:13 UTC after its fuel supply was exhausted. |
| Total engine failure | The left engine stopped roughly 13 minutes later. The A330 was then about 65 nautical miles from Lajes at approximately 34,500 feet. |
| Unpowered landing | The pilots glided to Lajes, used turns to dispose of excess height and landed at high speed about 19 minutes after the second engine stopped. |
What caused the fuel leak on the Air Transat A330?
The leak was caused by an incompatible hydraulic installation on the recently replaced right engine. A hydraulic pump and associated tube assembly did not match the replacement engine's configuration, leaving insufficient clearance between a hydraulic tube and an adjacent fuel pipe.
Engine vibration repeatedly brought the two pipes into contact. The fuel pipe eventually cracked, allowing fuel to escape from the right-engine area faster than the crew initially understood.
This was not deliberate fuel dumping. Fuel jettison is a controlled procedure using dedicated aircraft equipment; Flight 236 suffered an uncontrolled leak through damaged plumbing. Our explanation of how deliberate fuel jettison differs from an accidental fuel loss covers that distinction.
Why did Flight 236 run out of fuel instead of correcting the imbalance?
The aeroplane ran out because the cockpit indications initially resembled a fuel imbalance, while the crew's balancing response connected the remaining fuel supply to the leaking right-engine feed path.
A common mistake in retellings is to say that crossfeed simply transferred fuel from the left tank into the right tank. On the A330, crossfeed connects the engine feed manifolds. With the pump selections made by the crew, fuel from the fuller left side could supply both engines, including the right-engine plumbing from which fuel was escaping.
- A fuel imbalance means the tanks contain different quantities, but total fuel on board should still broadly agree with the amount expected after accounting for engine consumption.
- A fuel leak is suggested when total indicated fuel falls faster than metered engine use can explain, or when an imbalance persists or worsens despite corrective action.
The available warnings did not display an unambiguous message identifying a leaking pipe or its location. Crews must cross-check tank quantity, calculated fuel remaining, fuel used and the effect of any balancing action, but the exact procedure depends on the aircraft standard and operator checklist.
How did Air Transat Flight 236 reach the Azores?
Flight 236 reached Lajes by converting its remaining altitude into distance while the crew preserved airspeed and controlled the descent.
By the time the second engine stopped, the diversion was already under way. The pilots maintained a clean glide, tracked towards Lajes and arrived high enough to require a 360-degree turn and additional manoeuvring before lining up with the runway. That excess altitude provided a valuable margin because an engine-out aeroplane cannot go around.
The quoted 65-nautical-mile glide equals approximately 120 kilometres or 75 statute miles. It is often described as the longest unpowered glide by a passenger jet, although record comparisons vary according to whether they use straight-line distance, actual ground track or time without thrust. The firm point is that this was a controlled glide, not a free fall.
How could an Airbus A330 fly after both engines stopped?
An A330 can keep flying without thrust because airflow over the wings still produces lift, provided the pilots maintain sufficient airspeed and accept a continuous descent.
After the engines stopped, the ram air turbine deployed into the airflow and supplied limited emergency hydraulic and electrical power. It did not produce thrust or restore every normal system, but it kept essential flight controls and instruments available. The landing gear was extended using the emergency gravity system.
The reduced system capability and landing configuration resulted in an approach speed of roughly 200 knots, far above a routine landing speed. The aircraft touched down hard, bounced and damaged or deflated several main-wheel tyres while stopping on the runway.
Was Air Transat Flight 236 a crash, and did anyone die?
Air Transat 236 did not suffer a fatal crash: it completed an emergency landing, and all 306 occupants survived.
Eighteen people were injured, two seriously. Many injuries occurred during the evacuation rather than during the airborne glide or touchdown. Because there were serious injuries and substantial aircraft damage, investigators classified the occurrence as an aviation accident even though the aeroplane remained controllable and reached a runway.
The A330's landing gear, tyres and airframe required repairs, but C-GITS was not written off. It was repaired and returned to airline service.
Who was Robert Piché on Flight 236?
Robert Piché was the Air Transat captain and aircraft commander who flew the final unpowered approach and landing at Lajes.
Public accounts often focus on Captain Piché, but First Officer Dirk de Jager was the other flight-deck crew member and helped manage the emergency. Piché's control of the glide, height-losing turns and high-speed landing made him closely associated with the survival of everyone aboard.
The official findings present a more complete picture than either a simple hero story or a claim that the pilots alone caused the accident. The crew demonstrated exceptional aircraft handling after the engines stopped, while their earlier interpretation of the fuel indications and use of crossfeed increased the amount of usable fuel lost.
Were the pilots or maintenance crew responsible?
The initiating failure was maintenance-related, while cockpit diagnosis, operating procedures and warning-system limitations contributed to the eventual fuel exhaustion.
The Portuguese-led official investigation identified several connected problems:
- Component compatibility: hydraulic parts were installed in a configuration that did not provide the required clearance from the fuel pipe.
- Maintenance control: documentation and checking processes failed to prevent or detect the mismatched installation.
- Leak recognition: the flight deck did not receive a simple warning identifying an external fuel leak.
- Fuel management: treating the indications as an imbalance allowed fuel from the unaffected side to feed the leaking circuit.
Once a feed-line leak is confirmed, continuing to supply that path is the wrong response; isolation may require shutting down the affected engine. Before diagnosis, however, shutting down an apparently operating engine over the Atlantic is a serious decision. That is why the accident cannot fairly be reduced to one crossfeed selection or one technician's action.
The findings led to safety action covering engine-component compatibility, pipe-clearance checks, maintenance documentation, crew training and procedures for distinguishing an ordinary imbalance from a leak.
Can Air Transat Flight 236 be recreated in a flight simulator?
Yes, the final dual-engine glide can be recreated reasonably well, but most consumer A330 add-ons cannot model the exact pipe rupture, crossfeed logic and progressive fuel loss.
- Select an A330. Use the most systems-capable model available to you. FSX users can try an Airbus A330-200 add-on carrying an Air Transat livery, although its appearance does not guarantee detailed failure modelling.
- Set the starting position. Begin approximately 65 nautical miles from Lajes at 34,500 feet. Use calm conditions for the first attempt because wind can change the achievable ground distance substantially.
- Use a realistic landing mass. Do not leave the aircraft loaded with departure fuel and merely turn the engines off. The real aircraft had lost nearly all usable fuel, so its weight was much lower than at departure.
- Create a genuine dual-engine failure. Use the add-on's failure controls or remove usable fuel. Moving the thrust levers to idle is not equivalent because idling engines still provide thrust and normal system power. Disable any unlimited-fuel or automatic-restart assistance that masks the failure.
- Protect glide energy. Fly the clean-wing glide speed documented for that aircraft model and mass. There is no single trustworthy speed for every simulated A330; flight dynamics and avionics implementations differ between add-ons.
- Commit to the landing. Delay high-drag configuration and emergency gear extension until the runway is assured. Expect to arrive high if flying directly, because the real crew also had to lose altitude before landing.
Our MSFS 2024 dual-engine failure practice explains the control priorities, while the separate guide to forced-landing energy management in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 covers approach planning and committing to a runway. If the add-on does not simulate individual fuel-feed failures, start at the second engine flameout rather than trying to reproduce the full leak sequence.