Gimli Glider

Gimli Glider / Air Canada Flight 143

Flight 143 after landing at Gimli, Manitoba
Accident
Date	July 23, 1983
Summary	Fuel exhaustion due to refuelling error
Site	Emergency landing at Gimli Industrial Park Airport, Gimli, Manitoba 50°37′44″N 97°02′38″W / 50.62889°N 97.04389°W / 50.62889; -97.04389
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 767-233
Operator	Air Canada
IATA flight No.	AC143
ICAO flight No.	ACA143
Call sign	AIR CANADA 143
Registration	C-GAUN
Flight origin	Montreal-Dorval International Airport
Stopover	Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport
Destination	Edmonton International Airport
Occupants	69
Passengers	61
Crew	8
Fatalities	0
Injuries	10
Survivors	69

Air Canada Flight 143, commonly known as the Gimli Glider, was a Canadian scheduled domestic passenger flight between Montreal and Edmonton that ran out of fuel on Saturday, July 23, 1983,^[1] at an altitude of 41,000 feet (12,500 m), midway through the flight. The flight crew successfully glided the Boeing 767 to an emergency landing at a former Royal Canadian Air Force base in Gimli, Manitoba, which had been converted to a racetrack, Gimli Motorsports Park.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} It resulted in no serious injuries to passengers or persons on the ground, and only minor damage to the aircraft. The aircraft was repaired and remained in service until its retirement in 2008. This unusual aviation incident earned the aircraft the nickname "Gimli Glider."^[7]

The incident was caused by a series of issues, starting with a failed fuel-quantity indicator sensor (FQIS). These had high failure rates in the 767, and the only available replacement was also nonfunctional. The problem was logged, but later, the maintenance crew misunderstood the problem and turned off the backup FQIS. This required the fuel to be manually measured using a dripstick. The navigational computer required the fuel to be entered in kilograms; however, an incorrect conversion from volume to mass was applied, which led the pilots and ground crew to agree that it was carrying enough fuel for the remaining trip. The aircraft was carrying only 45% of its required fuel load.^[7][8] The aircraft ran out of fuel halfway to Edmonton, where maintenance staff were waiting to install a working FQIS that they had borrowed from another airline.^[9]

The Board of Inquiry found fault with Air Canada procedures, training, and manuals. It recommended the adoption of fuelling procedures and other safety measures that U.S. and European airlines were already using. The board also recommended the immediate conversion of all Air Canada aircraft from Imperial units to metric units, since a mixed fleet was more dangerous than an all-Imperial or an all-metric fleet.^[9]