Original subtitles

3000.

We're not getting any oxygen.

We have the terrain alarm.

We are in an emergency.

On the night of the 24th of August 2001,

a fully loaded Airbus A330

with 306 people on board ran out of fuel

midway over the Atlantic.

How could a state-of-the-art computerized airliner

suffer such a catastrophic failure?

Mayday, mayday, mayday.

We have lost both engines due to fuel starvation.

We are gliding now.

We're now at 30 000 feet

at the rate of descent of 2000 feet per minute.

We have to ditch in the water.

I need you to put on our life jackets right now.

This film investigates what happened

to Air Transat Flight 236.

"This is it, it's over...

We are just going to die in the next 5 to 10 minutes."

And the speed's increasing. 203 knots now.

It's way too fast.

Everybody, I need you to brace.

Oh my God!

August 23rd, 2001.

Toronto International Airport is busy.

Air Transat, is a charter company that has grown rapidly

to become one of the largest airlines in Canada.

Midsummer brings fewer business travellers

and a holiday atmosphere.

Air Transat flight 236 is bound for Lisbon.

Most of the passengers are Canadians visiting Europe,

or Portuguese immigrants heading home.

The plane, a twin-engined Airbus A330,

is being flown by a young co-pilot, Dirk de Jager,

and an experienced captain, Robert Piché.

Captain Robert Piché

is somewhat out of the ordinary.

Captain Piché, from the moment he gets his wings,

he get to learn how to fly

in the north of the province of Québec,

where the conditions occasionally are very severe.

The flight deck of the A330 is ultra modern.

Banks of computers connected to over 100 onboard sensors

constantly monitor the operation of the plane.

This film reveals how serious problems can arise

when the pilots begin to distrust the computers.

Before departure, the computers give no indication

of any problems with the airbus.

236 heavy. Follow A320 Air Canada.

Turn left on Romeo and hold short on 2-4 right.

Roger. Follow A320 Air Canada.

Left on Romeo and hold short on 24 right.

With the crew of seven,

Flight 236 has 306 people on board.

Well, we were married for four days.

- Four days. - Four days.

So we had planned to go to Portugal for our honeymoon

and we had booked this flight on Air Transat.

And rather quickly because we hadn't really planned

what we were going to do very carefully,

so this was the last flight left.

Well... Boarded on this flight

to go on a two and a half week vacation with a friend of mine.

Obviously, I was very excited to be spending

two and a half weeks on the coast of Portugal.

Very excited feeling.

Transat 236 heavy. cleared for takeoff.

2-4-0 at 8.

Cleared for takeoff. 2-4 right.

Transat 236 heavy.

At 20 minutes past 8:00,

the Airbus A330 loaded with over 47 tons of fuel

leaves Toronto for Lisbon.

V1. Rotate.

The weather forecast for the Atlantic crossing is good.

Everything runs smoothly on the flight deck,

apart from a small adjustment to the route.

To avoid congestion, air traffic control

directs the flight 60 miles south of its original route.

It's a minor alteration,

but will later play a crucial role.

The passengers settle down for the long crossing.

The reason for our trip to Portugal,

it was a family trip, we were going to a wedding.

Otherwise, we would not have gone this year.

Uh, so...

Instead of just going for four days for a wedding,

we decided to go for two weeks

and throw the wedding in as kind of a family perk

and see everybody.

Everything appeared quite normal, and in fact,

I had traveled on Air Transat previously and found it

not to be very good.

And I was surprised by the quality of the flight.

You know, it was on time, the plane was newer

and we thought generally it was much better

than we had expected it would be.

We are getting to our next checkpoint.

Every 30 minutes across the Atlantic,

the crew check their position and fuel consumption

against their flight plan.

11.2 tons on the right.

11.2 tons on the left.

Despite the computerized systems, some procedures

like checking the fuel on board still need to be done by hand.

By comparing the amount of fuel in the tanks

with the amount the flight started with,

the pilots can keep an eye on the fuel consumption.

Fuel check complete.

The level is normal for the distance flown.

Alright.

For the first five hours, everything is routine.

The flight crew, Air Transat and the accident investigators

have all declined to be interviewed about what happened next.

This film uses known facts about the flight,

standard emergency procedures and expert opinion

to reconstruct what took place on Flight 236.

Look.

We're getting a warning signal.

"Oil temp low and oil pressure high on number two."

This warning is the first step in the crisis.

Oil pressure is within normal limits on number one.

On number two, it's slightly high.

The computer display reveals that the oil temperature

is low in engine number two.

But the oil pressure is high.

It is a very unusual reading.

The pilots are puzzled.

I can't see anything here.

I'll look in the FCOM.

A low oil temperature indication is normally

indicative of bad readings, bad sensors.

Oil temperatures don't decrease normally, they increase.

A low oil temperature would be of no concern.

The high oil pressure is a very strange indication,

it's very rare, in fact, I've never actually heard of one.

It's only indicative of the contamination, normally,

of the oil with fuel.

That's not something that is explained in the manuals.

Call the company.

The crew contact Air Transat's maintenance group in Montreal.

Transat 236 to Mirabel Operations.

Mirabel Transat 236. Hi.

Hi. We have a little problem.

We are getting the warning "oil temp low"

and "oil pressure high" on the ECAM for engine number two.

There's nothing in the QRH nor the FCOM.

Can you help us out?

The ground crew have no immediate solution.

The pilots must work it out for themselves.

They may have been given some advice on troubleshooting

to see if that would help,

but ultimately, the pilots are up there on their own.

They can get advice from somebody 25 000 miles away,

but they can't really fix the problems.

Suggest you keep monitoring your oil levels

and see what happens.

But because the oil readings are so unusual,

the pilots believe they may indicate a computer error.

The crew keep monitoring the oil levels.

Air Transat 236 continues on track.

Then 20 minutes later, a new warning.

Fuel imbalance warning!

I haven't seen that before!

Follow all ECAM action.

I have air traffic control.

In the Airbus 330,

most of the fuel is in large tanks in the wings.

The computer has now detected that the fuel level

on the right is significantly lower than the left.

The crew consult the airbus flight manual.

Which recommends they transfer fuel

through a special cross-feed valve.

Fuel will then flow from one tank to the other.

But before opening the cross-feed,

the pilots must be sure that the imbalance

is not caused by a more serious problem, such as a fuel leak.

Last fuel check was only 15 minutes ago and it was okay.

No indication of a fuel leak.

Keep going.

Wing cross speed, on.

On.

Once you begin the cross-feeding procedure

to correct the fuel imbalance, uh...

...restorative action should commence quite quickly.

In other words, the situation would not continue to get worse.

It would either stabilise immediately,

and then, begin to correct itself.

But the situation is not correcting itself.

Unknown to the pilots, there is a major fuel leak,

in the number two engine on the right-hand side of the plane.

Flight 236 is in mid-Atlantic,

nearly 300 kilometers from the nearest land.

39 000 feet over the Atlantic,

nearly 300 kilometers from land,

Air Transat Flight 236 is in trouble.

Unknown to the pilots, the right engine is leaking fuel.

The plane's computer system has thrown out a series of warnings.

But the pilots believe these are computer errors.

Have you ever seen something like this before?

No, never.

It doesn't make any sense.

Yeah, even if there is a leak,

it doesn't explain the alarms on the oil system.

And everything was okay at the last fuel check at 30 West.

I'll bet you it's a computer problem.

The task of finding out if there is a fuel leak,

is made harder by the design of the air bus systems.

The systems monitor hundreds and hundreds of sensors.

And you know, they can be affected by such mundane things

as a little bit of frost or ice on a sensor,

it can cause it to present bad data.

So it is not something that would occur

on every single flight, but it's something that we're

quite used to dealing with.

There is no warning to show that the fuel level

is falling faster than the engines are consuming it.

So the pilots receive no immediate indication

that there could be a fuel leak.

The fuel quantity isn't rising in the tanks of the right wing.

Check fuel quantity.

It's very low, hold on.

When co-pilot de Jager carries out the fuel calculations,

he discovers something seriously wrong.

It's much less fuel than we should have.

It looks like a fuel leak.

Check again.

De Jager finds a disturbing difference.

According to all the gauges,

all the tanks on the right wing are way below the level

they should be, according to the flight plan.

There's hardly anything in the other ones.

What about the trim tank?

There's nothing there either.

- Yes? - Hello, first officer here.

Can you come to the cockpit please?

Sure.

Although Captain Piché believes he is dealing

with a computer problem, he nevertheless decides

to ask for a visual check, just in case,

to see if there could be a fuel leak.

- Captain? - Hi.

Can you and Karen take some flashlights

and go to the windows?

If you can see anything trailing back from the wings...

It'll look like a mist

or a stream. And report back immediately.

Okay.

Dirk, I want you to do another complete fuel check, please.

I'm so sorry.

In daylight, the fuel pouring out of the back of the wing

would have been clearly visible.

But in the dead of night, even with a torch,

the fuel leaking from the engine is impossible to see.

The crew evidently realised that the situation

was not improving, and at that point,

they realised that their...

...that their circumstances were becoming more serious.

And I think that there were probably some discussions

that took place between the two pilots

as to what their next course of action should be.

If the computer is correct, then with the amount of fuel remaining,

the airbus will no longer be able to make it to Lisbon.

Captain Piché is forced to make a crucial decision.

We've got to divert.

Get on to Oceanic control where is the nearest airfield.

Transat 236 heavy. Santa Maria control.

Can you advise nearest airfield?

We have possible fuel problem.

The nearest runway is over 300 kilometres away.

But with the fuel remaining, Lajes military airbase

on the tiny island of Terceira in the Azores

should be within reach.

Santa Maria control, Transat 236 heavy.

Proceed 230 flight level 390 direct.

350 miles to threshold.

Are you declaring an emergency?

Stand by, Santa Maria control.

Not yet, it must be the computer.

Transat 236, Santa Maria control.

No assistance required yet.

Flight 236 continues flying south for the next 25 minutes.

Everything in the cabin seems normal.

But in the cockpit, the fuel readings are getting worse.

- It must be the computer - I've checked.

There's nothing in the trim or centre tank!

And the gauges show...

According to the fuel gauges,

the plane is using fuel much faster than normal.

Whether they believe the gauges or not,

the captain has no choice.

He must warn air traffic control.

We have to declare a fuel emergency.

Transat 236 heavy, Santa Maria control.

Santa Maria control, Transat 236 heavy, go ahead.

Transat 236 heavy, declaring fuel emergency.

I really hope it's a computer bug

because if we land in the Azures

with half a plane full of fuel,

they'll crucify us.

But at 6:13 AM, less than an hour

from the first fuel alarm,

the right-hand engine runs out of fuel and cuts out.

We're losing engine number 2!

I don't believe this!

Okay. Maximum thrust on number 1.

What's going on?

Yes. What's happening?

The lights started flickering on and off,

which I thought was kind of odd, strange.

On one engine, the airbus will not fly at 39 000 feet.

They must descend quickly.

Try to transfer fuel from center tank

and the trim tank. - Transferring.

Fuel quantity is reaching zero.

This can't be.

We're not going to go completely dry on this (bleep!) airplane!

Alright.

We can't stay at 39 000 feet with just one engine.

We'll descend to 33 000

to control our speed. - 236 to Lajes Tower.

We have lost one engine. Engine flame out.

Roger, Transat 236. We can see you on primary radar.

You are at 135 nautical miles from Lajes field.

We are 135 nautical miles from Lajes Field.

Well, there's a whole lot of critical things that go on.

In addition to that, you turn on all the exterior lights

so people can see you're in trouble.

You have to broadcast your intentions

on an emergency frequency, so that other people know

that you are unable to maintain your altitude.

You may be descending through their altitude.

So everybody else is now on the lookout for an airplane

that is in distress.

For the next ten minutes, the stricken airbus

continues on its one remaining engine.

The pilots still believe that the computer may be partly faulty,

and that they can make it to Lajes with fuel to spare.

At the end, we might be alright.

The fuel gauge is falling fast though.

It's nearly hitting zero.

But 13 minutes after the right-hand engine cut out

and with 130 kilometres still to go,

the left engine begins to fail.

We're losing number 1.

Mayday, mayday, mayday!

We have lost both engines

due to fuel starvation. We are gliding now.

One of the most sophisticated airliners of the modern era,

carrying 306 passengers and crew,

is now nothing more than a giant glider,

drifting steadily down towards the ocean.

Excuse me, can somebody come?

Hello?

You could literally hear a pin drop.

The exterior, there was no sound in that plane,

in that cabin at all.

A lot of people were praying and um, screaming for God.

My wife was a little hysterical.

My best friend was... in another world.

Everything was dead silent,

except for the people who were... who were very upset.

List of functions we have lost.

We have no more stabiliser,

nor blue and yellow hydraulic. No ADR 2 and 3.

No anti skid, no reversers,

tudder trim, radio HF, one and two.

With the loss of both engines, we have no electrical systems.

If the engines are not running, the generators are not running,

so there is no power on the airplane.

There is a small device, it's called the Ram Air Turbine.

It will deploy from underneath the fuselage, near the wing fairing,

and it's a small propeller that deploys at the bottom

of the fuselage and it spins in the wind.

And that small propeller will provide very limited

electrical and hydraulic systems to run the aircraft.

In other words, although it is a glider,

at least it is a controllable glider!

Calculate how far we can go with our glide angle, will you?

Well, we are now at... 30 000 feet.

At the rate of descent of 2 000 feet per minute,

we can hang on for 14 or 15 minutes...

I don't want to die on our honeymoon.

I was just trying to calm her down,

reassuring her that everything would be okay.

It's a very big struggle to stay calm

when you're considering your own death.

Without power, the plane loses 1000 feet in height

for every five kilometres it travels forward.

They can reach the Azures, but if the pilots

get their calculations wrong,

they may face a forced landing on the water.

I'm not sure we can make it to Lajes.

Air Transat Flight 236 is now drifting without fuel

over the Atlantic.

Although their initial calculations show

that the plane should make it to Lajes, Captain Piché

must now follow standard emergency procedure

for a passenger jet over water.

Prepare the cabin.

The cabin is slowly depressurising.

We need to put our oxygen masks on.

The loss of engine power

means the cabin soon depressurizes.

Everybody, please, I need your attention.

We are preparing to ditch the plane.

I need you to put on your life jackets right now.

Within probably, I'd say, two minutes,

I saw flight attendants with life jackets in their hand

running down the aisles. Obviously, that was a sign of fear, you know.

"What was happening" was the first question that popped in my mind.

You just need to tie this up like that.

You don't really know what to think,

but people did start to panic at that point,

when they were told to put on life jackets.

Please keep her calm.

My best friend was talking to his father,

his father died three years ago.

But he was talking to him because he thought for sure

he was going to be joining him.

And I just kept the same reiteration.

"No. This is okay." One hand on one leg,

one hand on the other, both their arms clenched to mine.

Kind of looking at my in-laws, blinking, you know:

"It's okay, it's nothing."

I kept thinking that if the plane did hit water,

that we would survive.

I was so convinced that we would survive

no matter what happened to the plane, that...

I was probably delusional.

Fear just suddenly just kicked in

from my toes straight up to my head.

Uh...

At that point, they started giving us instructions,

of what to do in this procedure.

"Take off your shoes," was one of them.

"Don't inflate your life jacket

until we hit the water."

"Get into this position when we hit the water."

It was a lot of... It wasn't like "ifs" or "maybes",

it was "this was gonna happen, this was the real deal."

Ditching a large passenger jet on the water

presents severe hazards.

If the Airbus 330 has to make a forced landing,

the chances of survival are bleak.

In my personal opinion, I don't think these airplanes

would make very good boats.

Typically, an airplane with a low-mounted tail like this,

as it enters the water,

one of the first things that is going to hit the water

is the tail and it is probably gonna be ripped right off

and the fuselage is probably gonna open about right there.

In 1996, a Boeing 767

ran out of fuel off the coast of East Africa.

Its last moments were caught on amateur video,

and reveal what happens when an airliner

attempts a controlled landing on water.

Of the 175 people on the Ethiopian Airways jet,

only 50 survived.

The chances of surviving a ditching and floating

for very long are not very good.

If Air Transat Flight 236 has to carry out

a similar manoeuvre, it faces an equally grave outcome.

With over 100 km before they reach the Azores,

the pilots face a long and difficult manoeuvre.

They need to keep the plane gliding for more than 15 minutes

to reach the Azores.

There's very little time for any emotions at all.

You're just so focussed

on the mission at hand.

It's a life or death situation, of course.

But, your intention is to get it there.

You're not thinking about the alternatives.

You're fully focussed on...

getting the airplane to its destination.

Transat 236 heavy, to Lajes Tower.

Lajes Tower receiving, Transat 236 heavy.

Do you have us on radar? Transat 236.

s(tower): We have you on primary radar.

Confirm you are at 80 miles out.

Your heading is good.

Transat 236 heavy, Lajes Tower.

We are trying to make the runway.

Please describe runway heading and length.

Lajes Tower, Transat 236 heavy.

Runway is 3-3 and 10 865-feet long,

airport dead ahead on your present heading.

Please advise when you have it in sight.

Transat 236 heavy.

We cannot see the airport. We will tell you when we can.

As the minutes tick by,

the long wait for those on board is agonising.

That's it. This is it. It's over.

I am going to die in the next 5 to 10 minutes.

I hadn't contemplated the idea that we would die, certainly.

I think in that moment, you can accept it more

than you think you would accept it.

I never thought I was going to die.

I was in a little bit of a state of distress,

I did my best not to show it.

I just tried to keep cool, calm and collected,

but there were certain times

where I wasn't sure if we'd make it.

The torture of the whole fact that you're going to die,

which I totally thought I was going to,

is worse to me than dying.

If I'm gonna die, just kill me now!

Just get a gun and shoot me!

Or just let this plane go down and nose-dive into the ocean

and just die instantly.

On the ground, emergency services

prepare for the crash landing of a fully loaded airliner.

With 20 kilometres to go,

the crew now prepare for the most dangerous part of the operation:

getting their plane on the runway in one piece.

Transat 236 heavy to Lajes tower.

Do you have our distance from threshold now

and weather please?

Roger, Transat 236 heavy.

You are eight miles out according to primary radar,

airspeed 280 knots according to our readings.

Visibility unlimited.

You should have the airport in sight.

Negative, Lajes Tower.

Until now, we cannot see the runway.

There is no room for error.

Without power, the pilots have only one chance at landing.

If they miss or overshoot the runway,

the results could be catastrophic.

I got it. Just to the right.

Minimum RAD speed is 140 knots.

Maximum speed for gravity gear extension, 200 knots.

I'm not lowering the gear until the last minute, okay?

Okay.

The crew struggle to lose height and speed for landing.

Roger Lajes. Six nautical miles.

Let's open the slats.

It will slow us down a bit.

Slats out and locked.

As they approach the runway,

their speed increases dangerously.

Too fast and they could roll off the end of the runway.

- Lower the gear? - Hold on.

Speed is about 200.

All right, I stabilise the speed.

Can you give me a landing speed, please?

No engine. No flaps.

Ideal approach speed is 170 knots.

We're too fast!

Yes, but the runway is very long.

Captain Piché now performs a difficult series

of swerving manoeuvres to slow the plane down for landing.

The plane was almost at a 45-degree angle.

I thought we were just going to flip over

and nose-dive straight down.

The plane was circling around the island to slow down.

So we saw land, and then, we saw water,

and when I saw water again, it really struck me

that our chance for survival had maybe... was gone.

The runway is long, yes, sure!

But at the end, there is a 400-foot cliff.

If we don't stop at enough time,

we're toast! We're dead!

The crew line up the giant airbus for final approach.

Landing gear down and locked.

Three green.

No flaps.

Only the emergency brakes, no spoilers, no reverse thrust.

4000 feet, 195 knots.

3000 feet, 197 knots.

2000 feet, 200 knots.

Alert the cabin.

Cabin crew, one minute to landing.

Hang on!

Vertical speed at 3000 feet per minute.

We're going way too fast.

And the speed is increasing. 203 knots now!

It's way too fast.

1000 feet, 201 knots.

I'll try to get the nose up.

We'll arrive fast!

But even if the crew can get the airbus on the runway,

they face a further problem.

Without engines, the normal procedures for breaking

are severely restricted.

For Flight 236, the danger is far from over.

The pilots must land the plane without power,

and somehow get it to stop.

Everybody, I need you to brace.

Hang on!

The Airbus hits hard at high speed.

The tires have blown!

Captain Piché tries to hold the nose down.

Oh my God!

After bursting eight tires,

the plane finally stops in the middle of the runway.

We're safe! We made it, we made it!

Come on everybody, get out of the plane right now!

Come on, come on!

I told you we'd make it.

I just wanted to get out of this airplane quickly.

I jumped and hit the ground hard.

I don't think my rear end

actually even touched the chute at all.

I didn't slide down the slide, I ran down it.

And they're just, "Get out! Get out!"

So, you're just running out of this aircraft!

What in God's name just happened?

And I fell down to the ground, literally,

and I just started crying.

And once you're off the plane and you're evacuated,

you want to know what happened.

Piché and de Jager had flown their Airbus

without power further than any passenger jets in history.

As news of their remarkable achievement spread

around the world, they found themselves reluctant heroes.

You don't have time, really, to think about anything else

than the taking care of the safety of your passengers.

That's your main goal, and since we didn't have any engine,

the other main goal was to make the landing safely.

So at that time, I guess the experience came in,

you know, with the help of my colleague,

that's why we made a successful landing.

You train for the worst,

but you never know how you'll deal with situations like this.

And reflecting afterwards,

I feel we dealt in the most professional

and complete manner we could.

...a feeling of being grateful

to see all the passengers were okay.

Something like this happens,

you never know what is going to happen really.

I mean, you start not to believe it,

I mean, makes no sense that a big jet

with two engines has no more power with 300 people on board, you know.

But although the public story was a success,

disturbing questions remained.

Why had a highly sophisticated airliner run out of fuel?

What exactly had happened to Flight 236?

Away from the cameras, an accident investigation

began immediately by the Portuguese, Canadian

and French transport authorities.

Initial checks quickly confirmed

that all the fuel tanks of the airbus were indeed empty.

But to lose more than 17 tons of fuel

in such a short space of time meant they had a major leak.

The question was, where?

Engineers examined the fuel systems

searching for faults in the tanks and the fuel lines.

It wasn't long before they found what they were looking for.

Just by the right engine.

In this particular case, you had a hydraulic tube

that's relatively small by comparison to the larger fuel tube.

And the hydraulic tube,

due possibly to pulsations in the hydraulic system,

were abrading against the larger tube.

And eventually, the larger tube had a leak in it

and the leak, or not the leak itself,

but the hole, eventually, possibly led in to a fracture

of the tube, allowing this massive fuel flow

outside the engine.

The investigators began checking Air Transat

maintenance records.

They discovered that on the 17th of August,

five days before the flight,

Air Transat had removed the right-hand engine

for maintenance and installed a replacement unit

sent by Rolls Royce.

But as they analysed the repair logs for the engine,

they uncovered a shocking mistake.

This was not a case of faulty design,

but of faulty maintenance.

Rolls Royce had supplied the engine

without a hydraulic pump assembly.

To overcome this, Transat mechanics had used

the parts from an older engine.

But they didn't fit properly

and the pipes had been rubbing together for five days.

Until, midway over the Atlantic, one finally broke.

The engine was delivered minus these two tubes and a bracket.

The purpose of that bracket

was to maintain adequate clearance.

So if they took the bracket off the old engine

and put it on the new engine,

the pipes would be locked together

so that they could possibly abrade.

So the mechanics, I can't fault them,

but they were not given specific instructions

to verify the 3 mm clearance.

As Investigators questioned Air Transat mechanics,

they found more disturbing evidence of malpractice.

The chief mechanic testified that he had been concerned

about the substitution of another hydraulic assembly.

Five days before the accident,

he raised his concerns with his superior.

He was told that it would cost too much to have the aircraft

waiting for the missing parts

and to go ahead with the substitution.

The replacement parts only differed from the correct ones

by a few millimetres,

but it was a difference that almost cost 306 lives.

A few days after the accident,

Air Transat publicly accepted responsibility

for the faulty maintenance.

We have to realize that there was a small mistake

made in terms of changing the pump.

We installed it, but then, some pipes,

so to speak, were needed to be connected with the pump

and there was a mismatch.

The immediate consequences for Air Transat in that event

was that they got to pay a fine of a quarter of a million dollars

which was the highest ever in Canada,

for an error that could've been prevented.

How someone that is supposed to be qualified in their job

can... put the wrong part onto an engine

and risk 300 people's lives

is... beyond me.

This incident is a very strong reminder

that regulation is important and safety is important,

and lives will be lost in the absence of that.

And they're real lives, it's not just, you know,

this imaginary figure in your head of 300 people.

It's real people who suffer and continue to suffer,

as we all... If it hadn't have been us suffering,

it would have been our families.

This was by no means the end of the story.

Investigators now turned their attention to the cockpit itself.

What role had the crew played in the events of August the 24th?

Could they have done more to avert the crisis?

Key questions remained unanswered.

Questions about what happened on the flight deck?

The investigation into Air Transat Flight 236

discovered that basic maintenance errors had led to the fuel leak.

Air Transat accepted responsibility

and were heavily fined.

But the focus now turned on the flight deck

and the performance of the crew.

What part did they play in the fuel loss?

Wing cross-feed. On.

On.

When the crew opened the cross-feed valve

to transfer fuel from the left wing tank to the right,

they lost 17 tons of fuel in less than 30 minutes,

yet they failed to close the cross-feed valve

and prevent further loss.

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! We have lost both engines due to fuel starvation.

We are gliding now.

In the days after the incident,

Captain Robert Piché and Dirk de Jager were called

before the enquiry and asked in detail about their actions.

More than two years later,

these findings have still not been published.

What follows are possible explanations

for the course of events that night,

based on known facts and expert opinion.

"Oil temp low" and "Oil pressure high" on number 2.

The warnings of "high oil pressure" and "low oil temperature"

from the engine on the right wing

would not have led the pilots to suspect

that there was already a major fuel leak.

The indications that were being presented with respect

to the oils systems would probably not give the crew any indications.

They may have questioned what was causing the erroneous

or strange indications,

but there is nothing certainly in my mind,

or their training I think, that would have triggered them

to suspect that the fuel system might be involved.

Bet you it's a computer problem.

But although the pilots thought

they had a computer error, the oil warnings

were actually correct, and were the first indication

of a much more serious problem.

Fuel imbalance warning.

Haven't seen that before.

When the fuel imbalance warning came up

20 minutes later, showing less fuel

in the right wing than the left,

it seemed unconnected with the oil alarms.

This could have reinforced Captain Piché's idea

that he was facing a series of computer errors.

"Do not apply this procedure if a fuel leak is suspected..."

Despite his doubts, Captain Piché was obliged

to follow Airbus procedure to correct the imbalance.

He opened the cross-feed valve.

Wing cross-feed, on.

But was following the checklist enough?

You just can't idly flip switches in response to commands

from the computers and anticipate that all will be well

at the end of it, you know,

once the checklist is complete,

we can sit there fat, dumb and happy.

That's not the case at all.

You've got to keep second-guessing it,

"Is that right, did we do the right checklist?

Have we got the results that we need?"

Once the pilots calculated the high rate of fuel loss,

they should have suspected a major leak.

Transat 236 heavy, declaring fuel emergency.

By the time they had confirmed the leak,

their options were severely limited.

They were flying blind, as it were.

There was no checklist information provided to them.

They had assumed that once they had engaged

in this procedure, that the situation

would resolve itself, and it wasn't.

Now, they had a choice:

"Do I close the cross-feed

and see what happens?

Or do I leave the cross-feed open

as the fuel imbalance checklist

has dictated and maybe the situation will correct itself?"

The crew wasn't really sure. It wasn't an eventuality...

It wasn't a situation they had been trained for, I am sure.

They were in new ground with really no guidance to help them.

If they'd left the cross-feed open

or whether they closed the cross-feed,

I would only be speculating as to what changes

it might have resulted in the outcome of this event.

Captain Piché believed for a long time

that he was facing a computer error.

It was only when the engines finally stopped

that he had to accept the fuel leak was genuine.

The technological complexity of modern aircraft

can help to make them safer and more reliable.

But it can also lead to the problems

that nearly brought catastrophe to Air Transat 236.

Discrepancies in replacement parts led to a fuel leak.

Distrust in computers led the crew to misread the situation.

These errors combined to have huge implications.

Only because air traffic control initially sent the plane

60 miles south to avoid congestion was Flight 236

close enough to the Azores when the crisis struck.

Otherwise, it would have had to ditch in the ocean.

The investigation remains unpublished.

Airbus blamed the pilots for mishandling the fuel leak.

Robert Piché and Dirk de Jager

continue to fly with Air Transat.

In August 2002, they received the highest honours

of the Air Line Pilots Association

for the longest glide ever accomplished

in a passenger airline.

After the accident, Airbus modified its checklist

in the event of fuel imbalance.

From now on, the computer checks all the fuel levels on board

against the flight plan.

It now gives a clear warning if more fuel is being lost

than the engines can consume.

Rolls Royce has re-issued a service bulletin

alerting all its clients of the incompatibility

of two almost similar parts.

For the passengers trapped on Flight 236,

the trauma has left them with mixed feelings.

Alright, let's stabilize the speed.

This accident wasn't caused by simply...

...one omission by any one individual.

As is typical of most aircraft accidents.

There's a whole chain of events,

a whole series of events that lead to the incident

or to the accident and this accident was no different.

Whatever the circumstances are, the pressure

that he was under is tremendous.

He got that plane down safely,

only blew out 8 of the 12 tires.

And saved 300 people.

He saved 300 people's lives.

Captain Piché saved our lives,

and whether or not he made an error,

or if there was a failure of the computer,

it doesn't really matter because we're alive.

Do I think he's a hero? No.

Do I think he's a hell of a pilot? Yes.

Thank God the islands of the Azures were there

and basically saved our lives.

But if that fuel pump broke two, five minutes beforehand,

we would have ended up into the water

and I wouldn't be here to tell the story.

difuze