Inside the cockpit of Air Transat 236 with the pilot who saved the flight from a near-crash

On Aug. 24, 2001, Air Transat Flight 236 ran out of fuel over the Atlantic on the way from Toronto to Lisbon, forcing Captain Robert Piché to glide the Airbus A330 for 19 minutes to the nearest land. The plane touched down at Lajes military air base on Terceira island in the Azores, about 1,400 kilometers west of Portugal, and all 293 passengers and 13 crew survived—described as the longest glide by a passenger jet. The story also revisited Piché’s past, including a cannabis-smuggling conviction in the U.S. and later alcohol dependence. After retirement, he created a foundation to support addiction treatment and delivered motivational talks.