In 2001 a plane carrying 293 passengers and 13 crew lost power in both its engines over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Unbeknown to the pilots of Air Transat Flight 236, the aircraft bound for Lisbon had been leaking fuel ever since it left Toronto six hours earlier. Having lost the first of two engines, Captain Robert Piche declared a fuel emergency and announced to Air Traffic Control his intention to divert to the Azores. Ten minutes later the second engine sputtered to a stop.
Piche and his first officer, Dirk DeJager, with more than 20,000 hours of flight experience between them, proceeded to glide the Airbus A330, without any power, for 19 minutes â covering some 75 miles â until landing hard at Lajes Air Base.
Plane Talk - Feb. 12-18
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FRIDAY: A customer flew in from Williston, Florida for a quick turn on fuel, then flew to Henderson, Nevada in his Embraer Phenom 300 jet. No other activity reported.
SATURDAY: Air 2 LLC flew out to the Hart area, and later flew back in their Hughes 500 jet helicopter. A customer flew in from Mesa, Arizona for fuel, then flew to Cameron, Missouri in his Beech A-36 Bonanza. A customer flew in from Beaumont for fuel, then flew to Raton, New Mexico in his Piper Malibu Mirage. Thomas Vaughn flew in from Biggin’ Hill near Shallowater for fuel, then flew back to Shallowater in his Cessna 180 Skywagon.