I expect that most folks would be surprised to hear that Captain Bob Pearson was demoted for six months [0] after this landing, in which he side-slipped a commercial airliner with no functioning engines, and dodged two kids on bicycles on the Gimli 'runway' (read drag strip).<p>Talk about a uniquely Canadian story - running out of fuel because of a mistake in Imperial to Metric unit conversion. This from someone who was in high school in 1978, The Year Dope Dealers Got an 'A' in Math.<p>And if you don't get that joke, you're not a Canadian who grew up in the transition from Imperial to Metric.<p>[0] <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider</a><p>[edit: duh, added the reference. I get it, after having it being explained to me. Thanks folks. ]
So it turns out that passenger jets do not carry backup batteries. This poses problems when all engines fail, as many functions are fly-by-wire, and require power.<p>Th RAT comes to the rescue in such situations. Its a Ram Air Turbine which pops out of the body when called upon. The turbine spins and generates just enough electricity to power the crucial instruments and controls.<p>I was touring a Hamilton Sundstrand factory a long time ago that manufactured these RATs. They had a tally board up that listed situations where the RAT was deployed and the number of people that survived the incident.<p>Talk about being motivated to do a good job!
Semi-related story - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9</a><p>"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress"
A few things came out of this incident:<p>1) Per my first flight instructor, this is the reason students now learn how to forward slip. Up until then it was just viewed as a glider move. Thankfully the captain was an experienced glider pilot. It's required to demonstrate this maneuver for your private license (not sure about sport license).<p>2) This ultimately led to overhaul and standardizations for fuel / weight calculations.<p>3) Because the engines powered the electrical systems via the alternator, the plane lost a number of electrical systems until the ram air turbine kicked in (amazing little invention and kinda saved the day). Afterwards, many subsequent aviation systems were designed to be operated independently from requiring the alternator to be running.<p>Good documentary/recreation on the incident: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bct1mWUp8to" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bct1mWUp8to</a>. Miraculous that everyone survived, the captain deserves an accolade for quick thinking.
Even better: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236</a>
Ah. I read about this in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader (which is an excellent set of books for anyone who is compulsively knowledgable, by the way)<p>It's a fascinating case study in failure recovery in the worst possible scenerios, and how systems fail to begin with.<p>...Come to think of it, those are all subjects Cantrill likes to talk about. If you like playing Bryan Cantrill Bingo, I think this might make its way onto your scorecard soon...
A similar incident happened on Air Transat 236.
Pilot had to glide further, about 120km over the Atlantic, before landing on an emergency landing strip in the Azores.<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236</a>
> <i>Following the successful appeal against their suspensions, Pearson and Quintal were assigned as crew members aboard another Air Canada flight. As they boarded the aircraft, they realized that airplane was the same one involved in the Gimli incident.</i><p>That's great, but I wonder how big of a coincidence this is - how many aircraft did Air Canada have, especially running on presumably the same leg that Pearson and Quintal would have been running?
Interesting, a modern glider can have a glide ratio of 60! A flying squirrel, 2!<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift-to-drag_ratio" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift-to-drag_ratio</a>
"The Crash of Flight 232" is also really interesting. In some ways it's the opposite of the Gimli Glider in that 2/3 engines were still functioning fine, but total hydraulic loss meant that there was no elevator/rudder/aileron/flaps control.<p><a href="http://clear-prop.org/aviation/haynes.html" rel="nofollow">http://clear-prop.org/aviation/haynes.html</a>
I remember reading about this in Reader's Digest back in the 80s, or possibly early 90s.<p>One of the passengers mentioned that during the last-minute sideslip manoeuvre, he could almost tell what clubs the golfers on the course below them were using. :)
Not sure if anyone's posted this yet. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbE1S-i_gz4" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbE1S-i_gz4</a>
I just watched this a couple days ago on Today I Found Out: <a href="https://youtu.be/snVifFDoAG8" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/snVifFDoAG8</a> (9 minutes)
I can honestly say that after spending the whole day worried about some presentations I have to do this week, reading this makes me believe I can do anything!
I can highly recommend the Mayday (Air Crash Investigation/Air Emergency/Air Disasters/whatever its called this week) episode that deals with this, <a href="https://youtu.be/Bct1mWUp8to" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/Bct1mWUp8to</a>, and the show in general.
It's hard to believe that there is not training for a situation in which all engines are out. Heyzeus, just a little bit of knowledge (i.e. glide ratio, etc.) might save a lot of lives.
I question why a plane was allowed off the ground without a working fuel level sensor(s). Budget isnt allowed to rent cars without one. Forget the conversion errors. What if there had been a fuel leak? [1] That a plane ran out of fuel so quickly, leaving no powered landing options, speaks very badly of the regulatory regime of the time.<p>[1] There is another famous canadian "glider" story involving a jet over the atlantic. All i remember is that the pilot was a former bush pilot who ignored his instuments, refusing to believe he had a fuel leak.