# List of airline flights that required gliding

Airplane gliding occurs when all the engines of an aircraft shut down, but the wings are still functional and can be used for a controlled descent. This is a very rare condition in multi-engine airliners, though it is the obvious result when a single-engine airplane experiences engine failure. The most common cause of engine shutdown is fuel exhaustion or fuel starvation, but there have been other cases in aviation history of multiple engine failure due to bird strikes, flying through volcano ash, ingesting debris, and various forms of damage due to water (hail, ice or overwhelming rain).
Below is a list of commercial airline flights that were forced to glide at some point while in the air.
| Date | Flight | Aircraft | Location | Cause | Result | Total fatalities | Occupants |
| 14 April 1953 | Miami Airline (irregular air carrier) | Douglas DC-3 | East of Selleck, Washington | Dual engine failure due to poor maintenance | On approach to Boeing Field, left engine failed and its propeller feathered; minutes later, right engine failed. While gliding, aircraft was unable to clear mountain, crashed into trees, breaking up. Investigation showed both engines suffered bearing failures due to negligent maintenance. | 7 | 25 |
| 30 April 1953 | Aeroflot Flight 35 | Ilyushin Il-12 | Kazan, Russia | Double engine failure | Suffered bird strikes (ducks), both engines quit due to a short circuit in the magneto switch. Crew tried feathering propellers, captain decided to ditch in the Volga River. One passenger drowned during evacuation. | 1 | 23 |
| 24 February 1962 | Tarom Ilyushin Il-18V | Ilyushin Il-18 | Paphos, Cyprus | Icing of fuel filters (probable) | En route at 7,000 m (23,000 ft) over Mediterranean Sea while 70 km (43 mi) from coast of Cyprus, engine 3 lost power, followed by engines 1 and 2. At 3,100 m (10,200 ft), 45 km (28 mi) offshore, engine 4 also lost power. Plane underwent belly landing on ground near Paphos, Cyprus, after 45 km (28 mi) glide. | 0 | 100 |
| 21 August 1963 | Aeroflot Flight 366 | Tupolev Tu-124 | Leningrad, Russia | Fuel exhaustion | Nose landing gear failed to properly retract after takeoff, crew unable to lock gear in extended position. Aircraft circled to expend fuel to reduce weight and fire hazards in event forced landing was required. Aircraft ran out of fuel, pilot successfully ditched plane in Neva River without injury to passengers or crew. | 0 | 52 |
| 30 May 1967 | East African Airlines 5Y-ADA | Vickers VC10 | Bombay, India | Fuel starvation due to improper use of boost pumps | Climbing through 15,000 ft on departure from Bombay, all four engines lost power because of failure to use fuel boost pumps. Flight engineer was sick in lavatory and was retrieved by purser to restore power, thus arresting descent toward Indian Ocean. | 0 | Unknown |
| 2 May 1970 | ALM Flight 980 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9 | Near Saint Croix | Fuel starvation after multiple missed approaches due to bad weather | Flight originating from John F. Kennedy International Airport made three landing attempts at Princess Juliana International Airport but aborted due to bad weather. Captain diverted to St. Croix, short on fuel, decided to ditch before reaching island. Both engines flamed out shortly before ditching. | 23 | 63 |
| 6 September 1971 | Paninternational Flight 112 | BAC One-Eleven | Hamburg, Germany | Engine failure due to accidental use of jet fuel in water-injection tanks | After take-off, both engines failed; pilots decided to make emergency landing on highway – Bundesautobahn 7 (also part of European route E45) – about 4.5 km (2.8 mi) from Hamburg Airport. During landing, aircraft collided with bridge, shearing both wings; plane caught fire. | 22 | 121 |
| 17 July 1972 | Civil Aviation Ministry test flight | Tupolev Tu-134 | Moscow oblast, Russia | Engine shutdown due to electrical system fault | Fourth prototype Tu-134 commuter jet, undergoing testing near Moscow. Failure of onboard accumulators caused fuel pumps to halt and both engines to shut down. Attempts to restart engines did not succeed, crew decided to glide to Iksha Reservoir. No casualties occurred during ditching. Plane experienced minor damages, was grounded for use as emergency training aid of cabin crews until 2000. | 0 | ? |
| 4 December 1974 | BOAC flight 910 | Vickers VC10 G-ASGL | South China Sea | Fuel starvation due to fuel transfer error | On flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo, flight engineer failed to switch tanks feeding engines, resulting in failure of all four engines. Aircraft suffered from Dutch roll; later, engineer returned and restarted engines. | 0 | Unknown |
| 4 April 1977 | Southern Airways Flight 242 | Douglas DC-9 | Georgia, US | Hail and water ingestion | After entering thunderstorm at 14,000 ft, both engines flamed out. Aircraft performed emergency landing on Georgia highway but struck gas station and exploded during rollout. | 72 (incl. 9 on ground) | 85 |
| 2 December 1977 | 1977 Benghazi Libyan Arab Airlines Tu-154 crash | Tupolev Tu-154 | Near Benghazi, Libya | Fuel exhaustion | The intended destination airport was blanketed in fog; aircraft could not successfully land, ran out of fuel while attempting to locate an alternate airport. Forced landing was made. | 59 | 165 |
| 19 May 1978 | Aeroflot Flight 6709 | Tupolev Tu-154B | Maksatikha, Kalinin Oblast, Russia | Fuel exhaustion due to improper actions of flight crew | Automatic fuel-pumping system was improperly disabled, causing power generators and all three engines to fail midair at altitude of 9600 m. Attempts to restart engines and auxiliary power unit did not succeed; after 14 minutes of gliding, crew made emergency landing in potato field. This type of aircraft is capable of landing on unpaved surfaces, but landing gear, although extended, was not locked and thus collapsed. Aircraft hit trees, was destroyed; 130 people survived crash, including 27 who were injured. Four passengers died. | 4 | 134 |
| 28 December 1978 | United Airlines Flight 173 | Douglas DC-8 | Portland, Oregon | Fuel exhaustion | Aircraft aborted first landing attempt due to possible landing-gear failure. Pilot focused on landing gear problem, neglected crew's warning of lack of fuel. Plane ran out of fuel, glided several miles before crashing within 10 miles of airport. | 10 | 189 |
| 12 April 1979 | Aeroflot Flight 3582 | Tupolev Tu-154B | Chimkent, Kazakhstan | Failure of three engines due to flight engineer error | Soon after take-off from Tashkent at altitude of 2200 m, first engine failed, followed by second and third. Aircraft glided to Chimkent airport; crew managed to restart one engine at altitude of 900 m and land safely at night. | 0 | 164+crew |
| 24 June 1982 | British Airways Flight 009 | Boeing 747-200 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Volcanic ash ingestion from Mount Galunggung | En route at FL370, all engines failed. After 10 minutes of gliding, four engines restarted, but one failed again and was shut down. Flight landed safely in Jakarta. | 0 | 263 |
| 5 May 1983 | Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 | Lockheed L-1011 TriStar | Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida | Crew shut down of engine due to low oil pressure; remaining two engines failed due to loss of oil. | After gliding for five minutes, one shut-down engine was successfully restarted. Aircraft made emergency landing at Miami International Airport; the sole running engine could not generate enough thrust to taxi aircraft to gate. | 0 | 172 |
| 23 July 1983 | Air Canada Flight 143 ("Gimli Glider") | Boeing 767-233 | Gimli, Manitoba, Canada | Fuel exhaustion as result of refueling calculation error due to recent conversion to metric and deficient maintenance policies | Aircraft glided to emergency landing on decommissioned runway that had been converted to drag strip. | 0 | 69 |
| 19 August 1983 | United Airlines Flight 310 | Boeing 767-222 | Over the Arapahoe National Forest west of Denver, Colorado | Dual-engine flameout due to fuel system contamination | Crew restarted both engines at 15,000 feet (4,600 m), successfully landed in Denver. | 0 | 205 |
| 24 May 1988 | TACA Flight 110 | Boeing 737-3T0 | New Orleans, Louisiana, US | Dual engine flameout due to water ingestion | Plane glided to emergency off-airport landing on levee, undamaged; subsequently flown out to New Orleans after engine replacement. | 0 | 45 |
| 8 January 1989 | British Midland Flight 092 | Boeing 737-4Y0 | M1 motorway, Kegworth | Blade fracture in left engine causing heavy vibration and engine fire; pilots shut down wrong engine | When aircraft was diverted to East Midlands Airport, vibration returned, pilots erroneously shut down remaining engine. Aircraft crashed onto M1 motorway, skidding up motorway embankment, 689 yards from runway threshold. | 47 | 126 |
| 3 September 1989 | Varig Flight 254 | Boeing 737-200 | São José do Xingu, Amazon jungle, Brazil | Navigation error, fuel exhaustion | Crew entered incorrect heading into flight computer (270 instead of 027), taking plane over remote area of Amazon jungle. Attempts to reach alternate airport were unsuccessful; plane ran out of fuel, pilot made belly landing in jungle. | 13 | 54 |
| 15 December 1989 | KLM Flight 867 | Boeing 747-406M | Redoubt Volcano, Anchorage, Alaska | Lost power in all four engines after flying through cloud of volcanic ash | All engines restarted, landed safely. | 0 | 245 |
| 25 January 1990 | Avianca Flight 52 | Boeing 707-321B | Cove Neck, New York | Fuel exhaustion | Plane ran out of fuel due to multiple bad-weather approach holds to JFK Airport, crashed into hillside on Long Island. | 73 | 158 |
| 27 December 1991 | Scandinavian Airlines Flight 751 | McDonnell Douglas MD-81 | Gottröra, Sweden | Ice ingested into engines; dual engine failure | Crash landed in open field near Gottröra | 0 | 129 |
| 12 November 1995 | American Airlines Flight 1572 | MD-83 | Hartford, Connecticut | Engines ingested tree debris | Aircraft was low on approach, clipped trees on ridge-line. One engine failed, other engine severely degraded. Aircraft glided to runway. | 0 | 78 |
| 23 November 1996 | Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 | Boeing 767 | Indian Ocean off the coast of Grande Comore, Comoros | Hijacking, fuel exhaustion | Aircraft taken over by hijackers demanding reroute to Australia. Plane ran out of fuel, ditched into Indian Ocean off Comoro Islands, broke apart on impact. | 125 | 175 |
| 12 January 2000 | Aeroflot aircraft transfer flight from Krasnodar to Novosibirsk | Tupolev Tu-154M | Tolmachevo, Novosibirsk, Russia | Failure of all three engines during descent due to defective fuel | All three engines failed at altitudes of 700, 300, and 6 m, respectively; crew managed to land aircraft safely. | 0 | 30 |
| 12 July 2000 | Hapag-Lloyd Flight 3378 | Airbus A310-304 | Vienna, Austria | Fuel exhaustion as result of landing gear failure to retract | Glided for about 20 km (12 mi) before crash landing 500 metres (1,600 ft) short of runway. | 0 | 150 |
| 27 February 2001 | Loganair Flight 670A | Shorts 360-100 | Firth of Forth, Scotland | Dual engine failure from accumulation of large volumes of snow or slush in both engines | Ditched in the Firth of Forth c. 100 metres from shoreline near Granton Harbour. | 2 | 2 |
| 24 August 2001 | Air Transat Flight 236 ("Azores Glider") | Airbus A330-243 | Terceira Island, Azores | Fuel exhaustion 120 km (75 mi) from emergency airport as result of fuel leak | Emergency landing; aircraft glided for 20 minutes. | 0 | 306 |
| 14 January 2002 | Sibir Flight 852 | Tupolev Tu-204 | Omsk, Russia | Fuel exhaustion due to closure of destination airport in Novosibirsk and strong headwinds en route to reserve airport | Airliner ran out of fuel, engines failed 15 km from airstrip in Omsk around 2000 m altitude. Aircraft glided for four minutes; crew managed to extend gear and land safely. | 0 | 119 |
| 16 January 2002 | Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 | Boeing 737 | Indonesia | Hail and water ingestion | After entering thunderstorm, both engines flamed out. Aircraft performed ditching on Bengawan Solo River, Indonesia. One flight attendant was killed; all others aboard survived. | 1 | 60 |
| 14 October 2004 | Pinnacle Airlines Flight 3701 | Bombardier CRJ-200 | Jefferson City, Missouri | Dual engine failure outside of flight envelope | During repositioning flight, pilots experimented with performance limits of aircraft. Both engines failed at high altitude and low speed, could not be restarted. Plane attempted emergency landing at Jefferson City Memorial Airport, crashed 2.5 miles (4.0 km) short of runway. Both pilots killed. | 2 | 2 |
| 6 August 2005 | Tuninter Flight 1153 | ATR 72-202 | Mediterranean Sea | Aircraft fitted with incorrect model of fuel indicator, leading to incorrect assumption by flight crew of sufficient fuel | Engines failed about halfway through flight. Crew unsuccessfully attempted to restart engines, attempted to ditch aircraft at sea. Aircraft broke apart on impact. | 16 | 39 |
| 14 August 2005 | Helios Airways Flight 522 | Boeing 737-31S | Grammatiko, Greece | Flight crew incapacitation due to wrong setup of pressurization system | After take-off from Larnaca, Cyprus, flight crew continued ascent despite cabin pressurization warning; all on board, except one flight attendant who attempted to control aircraft, were eventually incapacitated by lack of oxygen. The auto pilot flew aircraft to Athens, Greece, entered holding pattern until both engines flamed out due to fuel exhaustion. Aircraft descended in gliding spiral until striking hill in Grammatiko, killing all aboard. | 121 | 121 |
| 1 February 2008 | Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano Flight 301 | Boeing 727-259 | Near Trinidad, Bolivia | Fuel ran out after diverting to an alternate airport due to adverse weather. | The pilots made an emergency landing in a swampy area near the airport; no fatalities occurred. | 0 | 156 |
| 15 January 2009 | US Airways Flight 1549 | Airbus A320-214 | New York City | Complete dual engine failure due to bird strikes moments after takeoff from La Guardia Airport | Aircraft glided, successfully ditched in Hudson River ("Miracle on the Hudson"). The pilot Chesley Sullenberger's 2009 memoir was adapted into the film Sully about Flight 1549 | 0 | 155 |
| 13 October 2011 | Airlines PNG Flight 1600 | De Havilland Canada Dash 8-103 | Near Madang, Papua New Guinea | Pilot selected beta (ground braking) prop mode in flight, props oversped, engines failed | Pilots attempted an off-airport forced landing; aircraft struck trees and caught fire. Pilots, flight attendant, and one passenger survived with injuries. | 28 | 32 |
| 3 June 2012 | Dana Air Flight 0992 | McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | Iju-Ishaga, Lagos | Dual engine failure from improper maintenance of fuel lines, failure for crew to divert to alternate airport when first engine failed | Crashed during landing approach into densely populated neighborhood. All 153 on board were killed and an additional six on the ground were killed. | 159 | 153 |
| 4 February 2015 | TransAsia Airways Flight 235 | ATR 72-600 | Keelung River, Taipei, Taiwan | One engine autofeathered due to fault in its control module; pilots shut down wrong engine. | Crashed into Keelung River three minutes after take-off. | 43 | 58 |
| 28 November 2016 | LaMia Flight 2933 | Avro RJ85 | Near Medellín, Colombia | Fuel exhaustion | Took off with insufficient fuel reserves, crashed about 10 nmi (19 km) short of destination after short holding delay. | 71 | 77 |
| 15 August 2019 | Ural Airlines Flight 178 | Airbus A321 | Near Zhukovsky International Airport, Moscow, Russia | Complete dual engine failure due to bird strikes | Occurred moments after takeoff from Zhukovsky International Airport. Aircraft glided and successfully landed in corn field. | 0 | 233 |
| 22 May 2020 | Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 | Airbus A320-214 | Model Colony, Karachi | Dual engine failure after belly landing and go-around, loss of engine oil | Crashed into buildings on approach, 97 on board were killed and one person on the ground was also killed. | 97 | 98 |