Imagine, you’re driving on a long stretch of highway when (uh-oh!) you run out of gas.
Well, you’d probably just call a friend or AAA, no big deal really.
Now imagine the same scenario, only you’re a pilot flying a commercial jet full of people!
That’s exactly what happened to a Canadian plane at a height of 41,000 feet on July 23,
1983…
Air Canada 143 was supposed to be a routine flight.
First, the plane was gonna make a short trip from Montreal to Ottawa, but that’s when
the first issue popped up.
The plane seemed to be having problems with the computer that manages fuel loading.
Since it wasn’t working properly, the ground maintenance crew just calculated the necessary
amount of fuel on their own.
After that, the flight crew checked these calculations 3 times, and everything seemed
correct.
The plane reached Ottawa without any other complications and had to depart for the second
trip of the day.
This time, the distance was much longer since they were heading for Edmonton, about 1,740
miles away.
Captain Robert Pearson was already sensing that something was off.
He asked the maintenance crew to check the fuel calculations once again.
They did, and everything was cool: the plane had about 3,020 gallons of fuel.
Captain Pearson and his co-pilot Maurice Quintal concluded that the plane had roughly 45,000
pounds of fuel, which was more than enough to reach their destination... if they actually
had that much.
In truth, they only had about half of that, just 20,160 pounds.
I know what you’re thinking, “How could such a huge mistake go unnoticed?!”
Well, both the ground crew in Montreal and the flight crew had forgotten the fact that
at the time, Canada was switching from the imperial system of measurement to metric.
That's why all of Air Canada’s new planes (including the one Captain Pearson was flying)
were calibrated in metric units.
As for the older planes, they were still using imperial.
Unfortunately, this led to a major blunder when the fuel was calculated in pounds instead
of kilos.
Remember, a kilogram is only about half a pound.
That’s why they really had half the amount of fuel they needed to make the trip.
The plane was at a height of 41,000 feet when the first warning light flared up.
The crew figured that the fuel pump in the left wing had failed, so they switched it
off.
And it really isn’t that big a deal if one fuel pump goes out – a plane can still fly.
However, a few minutes later, the second light came on.
The crew knew it had to be something more serious than a coincidence.
At that moment, the plane was only halfway to Edmonton.
That's when Captain Pearson decided to change course and, instead, head to Winnipeg for
an emergency landing.
Not long after that, the left engine stopped working entirely.
Then the alarm went off, indicating a complete loss of both engines.
The plane had run out of fuel.
Despite their years and years of flight experience, neither Robert Pearson nor Maurice Quintal
had ever heard this scary sound before.
The pilots desperately searched through the manuals to figure out how to deal with such
an emergency.
Unfortunately, there were no instructions on what to do if both engines are out.
Plus, an aircraft needs its engine power to control all the systems.
So, the crew was literally piloting a huge jet with no electricity, hydraulics, or power.
What’s worse, the pilots couldn't use the instruments they needed.
On top of that, air traffic control couldn't guide the plane because its radar responder,
which is typically powered by the engines, wasn’t working either.
That meant that Winnipeg ATC had to use a good ol’ fashioned ruler.
They placed it on the radar to figure out the distance the plane had traveled.
They then used this number to calculate the rate of the plane's descent.
This would tell them about how much further the plane could travel.
The only way out was to glide the aircraft down and hope it’d manage to land safely.
Luckily for the passengers and crew, Captain Pearson was a highly experienced glider pilot.
But still, he’d never tried to glide a Boeing 767 with all systems down before!
But the most serious problem was the loss of hydraulic pressure.
The thing is that a Boeing 767 has what’s called a “ram air turbine.”
That means the faster the plane goes, the faster the turbine spins and the better the
hydraulic pump works.
When a plane slows down for landing, the turbine stops spinning so fast, and there’s a drop
in hydraulic pressure.
In short, a pilot’s ability to control the aircraft decreases along with a drop in hydraulic
pressure.
Anyway, after most of the plane’s systems had shut down, it started to lose altitude
at a speed of 2,000 feet a minute.
After making some calculations, both the pilots and the air traffic controllers came to the
conclusion that the plane didn't have any chances of making it to Winnipeg.
That's when they finally had some good luck.
Maurice Quintal thought of the nearby Royal Canadian Air Force Base just 12 miles away
in the town of Gimli.
Even better, it was no longer in use!
Quintal knew the airspace and landing strips in the area from his time in the service.
So, everyone agreed that landing at the abandoned military base was the only possible solution.
However, when the plane was nearing the runway, the pilots realized they were still too high.
So, they decided to try what’s called a forward slip.
The risky part is that while this maneuvering technique can be done in small personal airplanes,
commercial aircraft aren't designed to perform it.
Plus, the plane was descending too fast for the maneuver to have any chance at success.
But they had no other option.
Besides, the captain had tons of experience performing a forward slip, so the plane was
in good hands.
Oh, but our story doesn’t end there.
You see, the pilots still weren't aware of the most terrifying thing about this situation.
That abandoned military base wasn’t just sitting there empty and derelict – it’d
been converted into a motorsports park and racetrack!
So, that same day, July 23, 1983, it was full of happy park-goers, campers, and vehicles!
Maurice Quintal didn't notice the people on the runway until it was too late to divert
the plane.
As for Captain Pearson, he was oblivious to the danger because all of his focus was on
the speedometer.
The aircraft had gotten incredibly difficult to control thanks to those fancy hydraulic
turbines I told you about earlier.
Remember, they drop the hydraulic pressure when the plane slows down to land.
The people on the runaway didn't expect to see a gigantic plane approaching them at high
speed.
And how could they?
All the engines were down – this thing was gliding in silence!
But don’t worry!
They saw it coming and got out of the way in time.
Once it had touched the ground, Captain Pearson immediately hit the brakes.
That means the weight of the plane shifted forward, and this, in turn, sent the front
landing wheels back up into the aircraft’s body.
But it’s ok, losing the front wheels was actually a good thing because it allowed more
friction to build up between the plane and the runway, meaning it’d come to a halt
much earlier.
Thus, in the end, the Boeing 767 managed to stop just 100 feet away from the spectators.
And believe it or not, not a single passenger, crewmember, or park-goer was seriously hurt!
Phew!
The whole incident was dubbed The Gimli Glider.
And after receiving some heat from the airline for that initial fuel miscalculation, both
pilots ended up receiving the Diploma for Outstanding Airmanship in 1985.
Interestingly enough, other pilots have tried to land a plane under the same circumstances
in a simulator.
Yet all their attempts led to crashes!
Maurice Quintal got a promotion and became a captain in 1989.
And Robert Pearson flew with Air Canada for 10 more years before transferring to another
airline.
The most interesting thing, though, is that after it was repaired, the famous Boeing 767
kept flying long after the accident, 25 more years to be exact.
It made its last flight on January 1, 2008 and then headed to the Mojave Desert for its
retirement just a few weeks later.
Oh, and captains Robert Pearson and Maurice Quintal were on board the plane during its
final journey, and three of the six flight attendants who’d been on Flight 143 also
bid farewell to the plane.
Aww, now that’s really touching, don’t ya think?
So, do you have any fears connected with airplanes?
I just don’t like the ones with snakes on them, but let me know your thoughts down in
the comments!
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