Robert Piché: Difference between revisions

'''Robert Piché''' (born November 5, 1952) is a retired Canadian pilot. On August 24, 2001, he was [[Pilot in command|captain]] of the [[Airbus A330]] flying [[Air Transat Flight 236]] and managed to land the aircraft safely in the [[Azores]] after it lost all power due to fuel exhaustion. {{asof|{{currentyear}}|{{currentmonth}}}}, this remains a record glide length for a commercial aircraft in non -powered flight. Piché and his co-pilot were later assigned partial responsibility for the incident.

After graduation, he worked for regional airlines until he was laid off by [[Quebecair]]. After being laid off, he worked odd jobs which consisted of smuggling marijuana to the United States by plane.<ref name="globe-high">{{cite news |last1=Han Ha |first1=Tu |title=Transat pilot flying high in popular opinion |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/transat-pilot-flying-high-in-popular-opinion/article1139733/ |access-date=December 19, 2020 |work=The Globe and Mail |date=October 19, 2004}}</ref>

In 1995, Air Transat hired Piché, then 43 years old. He rose rapidly from co-pilot to captain on the [[Lockheed L-1011 TriStar]], and he transitioned to the Airbus A330 in the spring of 2000.<ref name="vf">{{cite web |url= http://www.vanityfair.com/style/features/2009/06/us_airways200906?currentPage=4 |title=US Airways Flight 1549: Anatomy of a Miracle |first=William|last=Langewiesche |work=vanityfair.com |date=June 2009|accessdate=3 February 2011}}</ref>

Piché is best known for performing a [[deadstick landing]] of an Airbus A330 (C-GITS) in the Azores in 2001. He glided the Airbus A330 longer than any commercial aircraft in history, and he landed at an airport on a remote island with limited navigation instruments. He was able to successfully land the plane (with only 8 blown tires) with only a few injuries among the crew and 306 passengers.<ref name="nyt" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moptc.pt/tempfiles/20060608181643moptc.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2011-12-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111125062456/http://www.moptc.pt/tempfiles/20060608181643moptc.pdf |archivedate=2011-11-25 }}</ref> In a response to a reporter's question regarding heroism, Mr. Piché stated: "I don't consider myself a hero, sir. I could have done without this."<ref name="vf" /> Canada's other successful landing of a fuel-starved aircraft was [[Air Canada]] Flight 143 (the "[[Gimli Glider]]") in 1983,<ref name="nyt" /> and ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' mentioned Piché's flight when it covered the successful water landing of [[US Airways Flight 1549]].<ref name="vf" />[[File:"The Azores Glider" (C-GITS) landing at Toronto-Pearson in 2016.jpg|"The Azores Glider" at [[Toronto Pearson International Airport]] in 2016|thumb]]The primary cause of the incident was improper maintenance, caused by an incorrect part installed in the hydraulics system, resulting in the fuel leak. However, the final investigation also assigned the flight crew partial responsibility for failing to detect the fuel situation earlier. Review of the Cockpit Voice Recorder showed that the pilot failed to use the main procedural checklist when attempting to rectify the imbalance of fuel between the tanks, which might have prevented the extent of the fuel leak on one side. The pilot also transferred fuel from the working engine to the failing engine which magnified the crisis.<ref name="nyt" /><ref name="vf" />