The Averted Tragedy of Flight 236: The Plane That Ran Out of Fuel Over the Ocean | Documentary

I reconstruct, minute by minute, how Air Transat Flight 236 ran out of fuel over the Atlantic and managed to reach Lages Airport with no engines functioning. The story begins in a hangar, with a parts adaptation that created invisible wear on the right engine.

I also explain how the signs of the leak were interpreted, why cross-feeding worsened the situation, and how Robert Pichet and Dirk de Jager piloted the Airbus A330 to the runway. Finally, I show the investigation's conclusions, the contradictions involving the crew, and the changes the case brought to aviation.

This is the account of a sequence of decisions, technical failures, and extraordinary piloting that saved 306 lives.

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0:00 The fuel tank that wouldn't close
1:38 Adapting to the Canadian hangar
8:45 The invisible leak in the engine
12:02 The imbalance and the cross-feed trap
16:33 Both engines shut down
21:04 The approach without flaps and air brakes
23:59 The landing in Lages and the 306 lives saved
25:27 Research and changes in aviation