The Gimli Glider

[Eric]

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of a remarkable bit of flying, that saved a 767 and all onboard. On 23 July, 1983, Air Canada Flight 143 was flying between Montreal and Edmonton. The aircraft was a new Boeing 767 with only 150 hours on the clock. Although the bird was almost new, the fuel quantity indicator sensor was out, so the fuel levels had to be checked manually by the ground crew. A miscalculation is converting fuel volume to mass occurred and only about half as much fuel as was needed was pumped onboard the aircraft.

The aircraft ran out of fuel about halfway to Edmonton and the pilot was forced to glide the 767. The only long landing strip they could reach was one at a decommissioned CAF base formerly named Gimli. They were unaware that the old airstrip was now a drag strip. When they attempted to lower their landing gear by letting gravity pull them down and lock them, both main gear came down and locked, but not the nose gear. So the pilot brought the 767 down onto a runway-turned-dragstrip with no nose gear. A drag racing event had just ended on the ground, but a car club and their families were camping out there. They were quite surprised by the newcomer to the party.

No one on the ground or in the aircraft were injured during the landing, but a few people on the plane received minor injuries exiting the aircraft. Due to the nose-down attitude of the aircraft, the rear escape chutes were at a very sharp angle.

As they approached the Gimli runway, they were far too high, but did not have enough altitude to circle. So the pilot used a glider maneuver called a Sideslip maneuver, to rapidly lose altitude without increasing airspeed. There is an Air Disasters episode that covers the incident. I'll embed a You Tube video of the full show below. It is quite a story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

 

 

[DAKA]

9 minutes ago, Eric said:

Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of a remarkable bit of flying, that saved a 767 and all onboard. On 23 July, 1983, Air Canada Flight 143 was flying between Montreal and Edmonton. The aircraft was a new Boeing 767 with only 150 hours on the clock. Although the bird was almost new, the fuel quantity indicator sensor was out, so the fuel levels had to be checked manually by the ground crew. A miscalculation is converting fuel volume to mass occurred and only about half as much fuel as was needed was pumped onboard the aircraft.

The aircraft ran out of fuel about halfway to Edmonton and the pilot was forced to glide the 767. The only long landing strip they could reach was one at a decommissioned CAF base formally named Gimli. They were unaware that the old airstrip was now a drag strip. When they attempted to lower their landing gear by letting gravity pull them down and lock them, both main gear came down and locked, but not the nose gear. So the pilot brought the 767 down onto a runway-turned-dragstrip with no nose gear. A drag racing event had just ended on the ground, but a car club and their families were camping out there. They were quite surprised by the newcomer to the party.

No one on the ground or in the aircraft were injured during the landing, but a few people on the plane received minor injuries exiting the aircraft. Due to the nose-down attitude of the aircraft, the rear escape chutes were at a very sharp angle.

As they approached the Gimli runway, they were far too high, but did not have enough altitude to circle. So the pilot used a glider maneuver called a Sideslip maneuver, to rapidly lose altitude without increasing airspeed. There is an Air Disasters episode that covers the incident. I'll embed a You Tube video of the full show below. It is quite a story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

 

 

Fortunately The pilot was VERY experienced   

[gwalchmai]

I thought this would be about a tossed dwarf.

[ChuteTheMall]

Looks like I picked the wrong week to stop tossing dwarves.

[gwalchmai]

There were several bars in Gainesville, FL in the mid 80s which featured dwarf tossing, some with velcro to help with scoring.

[Eric]

24 minutes ago, gwalchmai said:

There were several bars in Gainesville, FL in the mid 80s which featured dwarf tossing, some with velcro to help with scoring.

Were they trying to score with the dwarves by tossing them? Those Floridians have always been a strange lot. 

[Silentpoet]

It would have been a soft landing if I had been flying it, because there would have been a 500 foot deep pile of ****.

[gwalchmai]

1 hour ago, Eric said:

Were they trying to score with the dwarves by tossing them? Those Floridians have always been a strange lot. 

Naw, man, there was nothing "funny" about these guys. Just normal red blooded American dwarf tossing. How bout them bears, huh?

[Eric]

4 minutes ago, gwalchmai said:

Naw, man, there was nothing "funny" about these guys. Just normal red blooded American dwarf tossing. How bout them bears, huh?

 

[ChuteTheMall]

1 minute ago, gwalchmai said:

Naw, man, there was nothing "funny" about these guys. Just normal red blooded American dwarf tossing. How bout them bears, huh?

Why are you against tossing foreign dwarves?

 

[DAKA]

Plane landing to Dwarf tossing  ???

[geeorge]

I told the gas jockey to fill it all the way up and not just until the pump clicks

[DAKA]

On 7/24/2023 at 12:08 PM, DAKA said:

Fortunately The pilot was VERY experienced   

Also reminds me of SULLY 

*******But lets hire DIVERSITY pilots.....**** (And FLIGHT CONTROLLERS   

I want someone who landed Fighter Jets on an Aircraft Carrier  (In a raging ocean....at night...!!)  These guys have balls of STEEL

But in reality If I never HAVE TO get on another plane ...I'd be very happy....Its been 4 years.....

[tous]

9 hours ago, DAKA said:

Plane landing to Dwarf tossing  ???

We are a diverse group.

 

[DAKA]

Just now, tous said:

We are a diverse group.

 

You might say  

[Eric]

Well, it's not midget tossing, but it might be good for a laugh. I got my money on Short Round.

 

[DAKA]

On 7/24/2023 at 7:14 PM, ChuteTheMall said:

Why are you against tossing foreign dwarves?

 

De plane boss, De plane