LISBON (Reuters) A Canadian Air Transat Airbus with suspected fuel trouble made an emergency landing, gliding in without engine power, on Portugal's Azores islands on Friday, slightly injuring 11 passengers, authorities and company officials said.
Transat Flight 236 carrying 291 passengers and 13 crew from Toronto to Lisbon overnight was prepared to put down in the Atlantic Ocean but managed to land at 5:46 a.m. at the Lajes airport on the Azores' Terceira Island, Paulo Lagarto, a spokesman for Portugal's civil aviation agency, told Reuters.
The Azores are a group of nine Portuguese islands about 900 miles west of the mainland.
A spokesman for the island's hospital said nine people were treated for minor injuries. In addition, one Portuguese woman was admitted to hospital for treatment of a fractured kneecap and another for a cracked vertebrae, but neither injury was consider serious.

Some of the airliner's tires ruptured during the landing and its undercarriage was damaged.
The Airbus A330-200, which is powered by two Rolls-Royce engines, "told the control tower about 20 minutes before landing that it probably would have to put down in the sea since it was losing fuel," he said.
Jose Angeja, the airport director, said authorities suspected the aircraft had trouble with its fuel system.
"There are eyewitnesses and even passengers that say that when it landed, it had its engines off," Angeja said. Portuguese authorities are investigating the incident.
Montreal-based Air Transat, Canada's biggest charter airline, confirmed the jet landed without power.
"I cannot confirm whether it was a fuel or motor problem or something else, but at the moment of landing the engines were out," Michel Lemay, a company spokesman, told Reuters.
"I don't for how many minutes that was the case, but in effect the aircraft glided the last moments of the flight."
LOSS OF FUEL, ENGINE POWER
Passenger Maria de Fatima told Portuguese television that passengers realized about an hour before landing that the plane was in trouble. "We didn't know what was going to happen," she said, weeping.
"The captain was very brave." Jason Srancoz, a Canadian passenger from Toronto, called the pilot a hero for landing the plane safely. "It was very scary. We were prepared to do a water crash," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
Worried officials with Canada's Transport Ministry in Ottawa did not ground Air Transat, but limited the airline's operating authority on its three Airbus 330s, requiring the company to fly the jets closer to airports on long-haul routes.
Instead of flying in a more direct line to Europe, which meant Air Transat's Airbus 330s could be up to two hours away from the nearest airport, the jets must now follow a more northerly route near Greenland or Iceland to ensure they are no more than one hour from an airport, Canadian officials said.
"We're very, very concerned about this," Art LaFlamme, director general of civil aviation at Transport Canada, told Reuters.
"To my knowledge this is the first instance of this occurring in Canada or even worldwide," he added.
LaFlamme was referring to indications that the airliner continued to lose fuel during the flight despite design specifications for the Airbus which allow the flight crew to shut down a troubled engine and reroute or conserve fuel while using the remaining functional engine.
"The system is designed so that they can fly on one engine...so the continued loss of fuel is probably the most perplexing situation here that has to be explained," he said.
Transport Canada also plans to audit Air Transat's flight and maintenance operations to ensure they meet regulatory requirements.
Air Transat's Lemay said the airliner had been in service since 1999.

Another Air Transat jet was due to arrive in the Azores late on Friday at the airport at Ponta Delgada. The passengers from Flight 236 were being transported by boat to Ponta Delgada where they would board the plane for a short flight to Lisbon.
Air Transat is part of travel services company Transat A.T. Inc. Its shares were down 30 Canadian cents at C$10.65 in Toronto on Friday.

Airbus Asks For Checks On A330 Fuel Pipes
Aug 30, 2001 (source:airwise news)
Airbus has asked airlines flying its A330 to check the jet's fuel pipes after one of the planes made an emergency landing on the Azores Islands.
A spokesman for the company says it asked carriers this week to perform a "visual check" of fuel lines near the engines.
Only aircraft that use engines made by Rolls-Royce are concerned. The check applies to 84 planes in service with 15 carriers.
The move follows an incident involving a Canadian airliner on its way across the Atlantic Ocean. It glided to an emergency landing after it lost engine power because of a fuel leak.
The jet was carrying 304 people on a flight from Toronto to Lisbon when it began losing fuel.
For 18 minutes, the Air Transat A330-200 glided without power until its pilot guided the plane to a safe landing in the Azores.
"We want to be sure, even if the risk is small, that the same (problem) does not exist on other planes," said David Velupillai, a spokesman for the company based in Toulouse, France.

Canada Takes Steps To Face Issues Surrounding Air Transat Emergency
Aug 31, 2001 (source:airwise news)
Canadian Transport Minister David Collenette yesterday announced measures to address the emerging maintenance and flight operation issues surrounding the emergency landing of the Air Transat Airbus A330 in the Azores.
These measures are in advance of the final report of the Portuguese investigating authority.
Transport Canada has requested and Air Transat has agreed to immediately implement special training sessions on extended range operations for all Air Transat flight crew to review with them the proper procedures for the conduct of these flights.
This will include fuel management procedures and the necessity to divert to the closest alternative airport at the first signs of an engine-related emergency.
Following discussion with Transport Canada, Air Transat has created a new senior director of safety position, reporting directly to the president and CEO, who will work closely with Transport Canada to implement a safety management system program.
In addition, Air Transat has voluntarily taken additional precautionary safety measures to prevent a reoccurrence of an incident of this type.
Air Transat:
- has initiated a comprehensive review of the safety of their maintenance and operations program, and will report on the implementation of the review's recommendations to Transport Canada;
- has provided to Transport Canada a corrective action plan that will improve the performance of maintenance activity and includes the hiring of additional maintenance and quality assurance personnel; and
- will institute human factors training for all technical personnel, review their quality procedures and introduce a system for analyzing maintenance errors.
The above action does not preclude any potential separate regulatory action that Transport Canada may take following the conclusion of Transport Canada's special audit of Air Transat's maintenance and flight operations.
"Transport Canada takes occurrences of this nature very seriously, and will take whatever action is required to protect the traveling public," said Mr. Collenette. "We remain committed to maintaining Canada's already high level of aviation safety."
Transport Canada officials remain in ongoing communication with the Transportation Safety Board and the Portuguese authority, as well as the aircraft manufacturer (Airbus Industries), the engine manufacturer (Rolls Royce) and the responsible civil aviation authority for the Airbus aircraft (France).
The investigation by the Portuguese authority into the remaining components of the fuel system and the overall conduct of the flight is continuing.

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