In August 2001, behavioral neuroscientist Margaret McKinnon was among 306 passengers and crew on Air Transat Flight 236, a transoceanic flight originating in Toronto and destined for Lisbon, Portugal. About halfway through the flight, the aircraft, an Airbus A330-243, abruptly ran out of fuel, the result of a maintenance error-caused fuel leak in the number two engine. The only possible safe landing was a military base in the Azores—whether the aircraft could make it that far was uncertain. Passengers were told to prepare for a water landing and soon the cabin lost all power and the aircraft depressurized. A countdown began. You couldn’t be faulted for assuming the very worst: a failed water landing in a miles-deep ocean.

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