The aviation world is full of fascinating stories of extraordinary happenings, but few can compare to the incredible saga of the "glider from Gimli". Named after the small town of Gimli in the Canadian state of Manitoba, where he landed. ChatGPT and Forefront tell us about the circumstances of his landing in town:
On July 23, 1983, exactly 40 years ago, an Air Canada Boeing 767 took off on Flight 143 from Montreal, Quebec to Edmonton, Alberta, with a scheduled stopover in Ottawa. But on that day he did not reach any of these cities.
While preparing for takeoff, two separate crews were responsible for refueling the aircraft, but due to a misunderstanding, they used different measurement systems. One team used the metric system (liter), while the other used the imperial system (pound). As a result, the plane was refueled with only half the required amount of fuel – but a faulty fuel dial meant that no crew members were aware of it.
Only after takeoff, when the plane was already at considerable altitude, did the crew realize something was wrong, after the device's readings indicated an unexpectedly rapid drop in fuel levels. The team alerted air traffic control and received a list of the closest airports to emergency landings – but none were within safe distance. The plane quickly lost altitude, and the crew had to make a bold decision.
As the plane approached Winnipeg, at 41,000 feet, the left engine shut down, and seconds later the right engine shut down. Without engines and with only a few instruments in the cockpit fed by a backup battery, the pilots found themselves controlling the 132-ton glider, which was rapidly declining. The crew had to rely on basic analog instruments and their flying skills to navigate the descent and find a suitable landing site.
Realizing they would not be able to reach any of the intended airfields, Captain Robert Pearson and First Officer Maurice Quintal scoured the area for alternative landing sites. They spotted an abandoned Royal Canadian Air Force base in Gimley, which had a decommissioned runway. Although the track was converted to use as a racetrack, the pilots made a split-second decision to land on it.
Without engines, the pilots skillfully steered the aircraft towards the runway at Gimli. Captain Pearson was able to use glider technique to increase drag and control the angle of impact on the ground – but it still caused the front wheel to crash, and the plane slid on its belly along the runway, forcing members of the local automobile club to extinguish a fire caused by being towed on the asphalt. Despite this, all 69 passengers on board remained safe and sound.
The case attracted much attention and led to the amendment of strict procedures on calculating fuel volumes in aviation, training crews, etc.
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