The Astonishing Emergency Landing of Air Canada Flight 143

In 1983, during Air Canada Flight 143, a Boeing 767 ran out of fuel while soaring at 40,000 feet above the ground. This incident is famously known as the "Gimli Glider," and it even inspired a movie. Boeing aircraft are equipped with an automatic system that monitors refueling and provides the pilots with fuel quantity data. That day, the system malfunctioned, a fact known to the ground crew during the flight preparations. Therefore, the airline's maintenance team measured the fuel amount manually, finding 11,525 liters on board. The disaster-causing error was that the fuel data for this type of aircraft needed to be entered into the computer in kilograms, not pounds, as was customary for other Air Canada planes at that time.

The maintenance crew erroneously input the value 20,400 into the aircraft's computer, although there were only 9,255 kg of fuel, insufficient for the planned route from Montreal to Edmonton, Canada.

The flight proceeded as planned with Captain Robert Pearson. When it made a stopover, the fuel was measured again for safety. Yet again, the data was entered in pounds instead of kilograms, as required. Because the Montreal to Ottawa leg was relatively short, the mistake wasn't detected, and the flight continued to its second leg, from Ottawa to Edmonton.

While airborne, midway into the flight, an alert sounded four times, indicating a fuel pressure issue on the left side. The pilots believed the fuel pump failed and simply turned it off, trusting the computer's reading that ample fuel remained, although, in reality, the fuel was depleting fast. Minutes later, another alert prompted the pilots to divert towards Winnipeg, but seconds later, the left engine shut down, placing the pilots in a precarious situation.

In their attempts to restart the engine, communicate with Winnipeg air traffic control, and declare an emergency landing, a continuous "bong" warning sounded - a sound unfamiliar to the crew, even in training. This was the signal for "all engines shutdown." Soon after, the right engine also quit.

The pilots quickly opened the emergency manual, searching for guidance on flying with no engines, only to find no such guidance existed. Pearson managed to glide the plane at 220 knots. The first officer began calculations to assess the feasibility of reaching Winnipeg, which proved impossible. The two urgently sought ways to save themselves and the 61 passengers.

Before this critical flight, the flight crew possessed extensive aviation experience. At 48, Pearson had over 15,000 flight hours. His first officer, Maurice Quintal, also had considerable flying hours and served in the Canadian Air Force, a fact that would aid in the dire situation.

Quintal chose Gimli, an airbase from his Air Force service, as the landing site. Unbeknownst to him, Gimli had since become a civilian airstrip. On that day, a car race was taking place on the runway, crowded with vehicles and spectators.

As the plane descended towards the ground, Quintal deployed the main landing gear using gravity drop (relying on the landing gear weight and wind resistance rather than an electric motor), but the nose gear didn't lock. The aircraft's speed decreased, reducing the current supplied by the ram air turbine, making control increasingly difficult. As they neared, it became clear they were too high, prompting Pearson to execute a "sideslip," increasing drag to descend. Once the wheels touched the runway, the pilots stomped on the brakes, causing some tires to blow. The plane landed, scraping its nosecone along the runway due to the unlocked nose gear, stopping just dozens of meters from the "family day" events at the runway's end.

Thankfully, no one was injured during the landing, though several sustained minor injuries while exiting the aircraft. A small fire ignited near the nose, extinguished by race drivers rushing in with fire extinguishers. Investigators found that, had the aircraft not skidded on its nose, stopping it, it would have ended farther out, potentially causing severe harm to those on the runway, effectively making the unlocked nose gear a lifesaver for many.