Fuel miscalculation leads to emergency landing

A Boeing 767 carrying 69 passengers and crew glided for seventeen minutes without engine power after a fuel miscalculation left it airborne with only half the required fuel. The incident occurred at 41,000 feet above Manitoba, where the aircraft eventually landed on a former military airfield in Gimli, which had been converted into a motor racing circuit.

Metric conversion error causes fuel shortage

The fuel error was due to a metric conversion mistake, with the maintenance team using 1.77 pounds per liter instead of the correct 0.8 kilograms per liter. This resulted in the aircraft having only 9,144 kilograms of fuel instead of the required 20,400 kilograms.

Crew manually calculates fuel load

The crew had noticed the fuel gauge was out of service before departure from Montreal and had to manually calculate the fuel load. However, the Boeing 767, a new aircraft delivered in March 1983, was operating in a fleet that still used imperial units, while Canada had recently switched to the metric system. The error went undetected until it was too late.

Experienced pilots guide plane to safe landing

Captain Bob Pearson and co-pilot Maurice Quintal were forced to glide the aircraft to safety. Pearson's experience in gliding proved crucial, allowing him to perform a wing slide maneuver to reduce speed and altitude. The landing site was chosen based on Quintal's memory of a former Royal Canadian Air Force airfield in Gimli.

Gimli becomes famous for unusual landing

Unbeknownst to the crew, one of the runways had been converted into a motor racing circuit, hosting a family day event that day. The aircraft, nicknamed the "Gimli glider," landed without serious injuries to any of the occupants. The event was notable as the same location had previously hosted a Formula Atlantic race in 1975, where Gilles Villeneuve won his first victory.

Aircraft later returned to service and sold

The aircraft was later repaired and returned to service, flying until 2008 before being stored in the Mojave Desert. It was put up for auction in 2013 but sold for significantly less than the estimated three million Canadian dollars.