Surely Peter B (vfrpilotpb) has put his finger on the nub of the problem when he cites a "huge cock-up" on the fuel uptake by the A330 in Toronto. (I wonder where he got that tidbit?). The local newspaper here, the Ottawa Citizen, quotes Portuguese air force captain Antonio Santos, "
PR officer for the Azores air zone", as saying that when TS 236 declared an emergency, they advised they had only 10 minutes fuel left and were at least 20 min from the Azores. How can a "fuel leak" remain undetected for so long, until such a critically low fuel reserve remains? Surely a modern aircraft cannot suddenly lose fuel catastrophically and remain in the air? Did the flight depart Toronto significantly short on fuel? Even then, why did things become interesting only when 10 min of fuel remaining were indicated?
Re Gumbi's posting regarding the actions of the cabin crew: I've read the Ottawa Citizen and the Globe and Mail accounts and nowhere is Rodrigues, the student pilot, quoted as being "annoyed" by the audible prayers of his fellow-passengers. Frankly,I take my hat off to them for having the presence of mind to pray out loud; I'd have been too petrified even to think. Every time I contemplate that picture of a ditched airliner gently floating on the water in the emergency procedures card, I have to laugh.
Rockhound