Landing A Boeing 767 Without Engines | Gimli Glide | Mayday: Air Disaster

in placid skies over central canada air canada flight 143 is just past the halfway mark of its journey from montreal to edmonton alberta good evening ladies and gentlemen this is your first officer the plane is carrying 61 passengers and eight crew members beautiful day clear temperature of 24 degrees celsius it's july the 23rd 1983. there that's coming along rick dion is an air canada maintenance engineer i was going to edmonton with my wife pearl and my young son chris who was four years old and this was the beginning of a two-week vacation for us and we were all pretty excited about going on this new airplane compliment of the captain oh hey rob thanks whenever you want to come up to the flight deck this was my first flight on the modern 767 as the company had just acquired them i'll be back in a minute okay i was interested in going to the cockpit to see all this new technology fit in with the work that i did on aircraft the captain on this flight is bob pearson he's 48 years old and he spent more than fifteen thousand hours in the air his first officer is maurice quintel who has more than seven 000 hours of flying time come on pardon me gentlemen rick i knew bob pearson from the small flying club that i attended in st lazar and he was actually one of the local pilots there that used to do some gliding and he also flew the ultra light lays airs we had departed heading northwest a nice clear sunny day in july where flight plan is 39 000 feet there were a few airplanes that flew that high in the 1983 and we requested 41 000 feet which got us further above the jet stream out of the west the crew may have accumulated a lot of hours in the air but very few in this plane it's boeing's latest and most advanced wide-body jet the 767 an army of microprocessors in the belly of the plane automates so many functions that the flight engineer's job has been eliminated this is one of four 767s that air canada has recently acquired the plane itself has only 150 hours on it quite a difference here huh oh yeah reset on and start here the cockpit is different and not all the old instrumentation that we're accustomed to mostly that was all gone it was all crt display like small tv screens it was a new high-tech airplane which involved quite a change for the crew and the maintenance personnel people handling it this is a new aircraft for both the captain and i at the time i had 75 hours on that airplane so everything was new for me pilots and maintenance crews are both still getting to know this airliner well then we get that same condition captain pearson explains to dion how he handled a small problem with the engines on an earlier flight it comes back down to low stage and we just carry on you know that brings up an interesting way [Music] fuel pressure why would that be a warning alerts the crew to critically low pressure at one of the plane's fuel pumps something's wrong with the fuel pump the 767 has three main fuel tanks two in the wings which are always used and one in the center only used on long distance flights electric fuel pumps draw fuel from each tank and feed it to the plane's two engines the low pressure warning could mean that one of the pumps needs maintenance but it could also be a more serious issue a lack of fuel to be pumped forward fuel pump it's just a bloody pump failing i can tell you that another low fuel pressure warning sounds this one from another fuel pump on the plane's left side pearson's flight management computer tells him he should have plenty of fuel for the remainder of the trip the 767 also has separate digital fuel gauges but on this flight those gauges are out of service the warnings don't make sense it got a little uh more interesting when the second fuel boost pump light came on for that tank which was the left tank this seemed quite abnormal that two pumps would fail in a brand new airplane we had some kind of a problem that we didn't understand your assessment would that be my own personal thoughts you might be low on the left tank i used to be involved with transferring fuel and i know that when you're trying to empty a tank it'll start flashing periodically and then the pump will re-prime and then the light will go out in this case it appeared to do exactly the same thing captain pearson knows that if the left tank is running low the right tank may be low as well let's head for winnipeg now pearson wants to land as soon as possible in case he is running out of fuel the crew is still more than 700 miles away from their original destination edmonton alberta the nearest major airport is winnipeg manitoba a mere 120 miles away we're showing lots of fuel on board our flight management computer and three normal fuel checks cross-checked with our fuel on our flight plan so we elected to divert the flight to winnipeg where air canada has a main maintenance base winnipeg center air canada 143. they're canada 143 go ahead ron hewitt has 20 years experience as a radar controller yes sir we have a problem we're going to requesting direct winnipeg air canada 143 cleared take position direct winnipeg you are cleared to maintain six thousand descent your discretion send a 6 000 his discretion and that was it he didn't tell us what the problem was and uh it's none of my business give him what he wants get everybody out of his way that's about what we do okay we're out of 4-1-0 pearson now begins to descend from 41 000 feet [Music] oh man it's all going okay the low pressure warnings are spreading to more and more of the fuel pumps [Music] can tell instructs the cabin crew to prepare for an emergency landing hello we think we have problems with our fuel system we are diverting to winnipeg all flight attendants to front galley i please this is just false warnings rick can you think of anything we haven't done no i can't bob [Music] okay we've lost the left engine losing an engine er raises any doubt flight 143 is in fact running out of fuel okay checklist single engine landing [Music] pearson is trained to land a 767 with one engine no one has ever tried landing with none [Music] he scrambles to get his plane down so that he doesn't become the first with only one engine powering air canada flight 143 and with the possibility of the other engine shutting down the crew prepares the passengers for the worst ladies and gentlemen this is your in-charge flight attendant speaking due to mechanical problems we'll be preparing for an emergency landing please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts your crew is fully trained to deal with the situation and as you may have noticed some crew members have already started to prepare the aircraft i had no idea like the rest of my crew members that there was a problem with fuel i had no idea why we were going to winnipeg approach and landing flaps will be 20. ground flap override as they're doing that drill the right hand fuel pump low pressure light was flashing as well much like it did on the left they were quite busy carrying out the first engine out not watching the pump lights which was right at my eyebrows so i kind of knew that that one there was going to shut down too what was that [Music] very shortly we will begin giving you instructions [Music] how come i have no instruments our beautiful colored engine and flight instrument displays simply went black ladies and gentlemen please remain calm please follow our instructions refrain from smoking and put your chair back in the upright position secure your seat belt tightly against your hip it's exactly what pearson had feared he's lost both engines at 26 500 feet still 75 miles from the nearest major airport he's out of fuel air canada 143 go ahead just lost both engines when both engines uh shut off i think you said holy i'm talking to a dead man we were trained in the simulator to handle a single engine failure we had never practiced and i don't believe most pilots ever get the chance to practice total engine failures we just lost their engines it's highly unlikely that anybody's going to survive this because i could see them trying to make a turn and spinning in an airplane's engines not only provide thrust they also generate the power needed to manipulate the plane it would be completely uncontrollable but modern airliners are like a swiss army knife with one last blade hidden away in the event of a loss of power they automatically deploy the rat or ram air turbine [Music] it's spring-loaded and the propeller that drives this small hydraulic pump is about the size of a propeller you would see like on the little cessna 150 and this arm catapults down into the slipstream this propeller starts to turn drives this hydraulic pump and it gives you basic systems i was pretty quiet flying in without motors pearson knows the time is running out he needs directions to the closest landing strip a 143 this is a mayday and uh we require vector arm to the closest available runway uh 143 we copied that all okay but the loss of the plane's engines has had an unexpected consequence at air traffic control they're gone they were right here we've lost him he's dropped off the screen i need primary radar uh 143 we've lost your transponder return and are attempting to pick up your target now we work on transponders it's called secondary radar we take the pilot signal to paint the aircraft [Applause] commercial jetliners are equipped with a transponder a device that transmits coded information which air traffic controllers used to determine the plane's location but when flight 143 lost its second engine only a small number of items got backup power the transponder was not one of them so the plane disappeared from hewitt's screen flight 143 is somewhere east of winnipeg but no one knows exactly where or how far it is from the airport in spite of its enormous weight a 767 doesn't plunge from the sky when it loses its engines its aerodynamic properties keep it in the air but slowly coasting to earth and i was trying to figure how many miles we were moving ahead versus ahmadiyy thousands of feet we were dropping [Music] but kintel doesn't have the instruments which provide the information he needs to make that calculation since he lost the plane's signal hewitt can't give kintel that information either controllers hurriedly work to rig up a way to find the plane just before landing you will hear the command brace for landing brace immediately and stay braced until the plane comes to a complete stop there are two ways to brace one bend forward raise your arms and hands against the seat back bryce bell is a businessman on his way home to edmonton as soon as they announced that we were making a non-scheduled stop in winnipeg i immediately wished i hadn't had the two drinks that i'd had because i thought you're going to have a split second here and this plane's going to explode in flame and the decision you make in that split second will depend on how alert you are okay please put your personal belongings in the seat back pocket the response of the passengers when we were doing the emergency briefing was basically alert they were looking at us they were paying attention to every word we were saying i couldn't have had better passengers i think that's him let's say that's him because their modern equipment can't see air canada 143 the controllers switched to old-fashioned radar which doesn't need a transponder to locate planes i've got to turn up my true radar the reflective radar which is not nearly as good and we don't use it at all if we can help it okay i got it 65 from winnipeg 45 from gimli uh 143. we have you at 65 miles from winnipeg and approximately 45 miles from ghibli for the first time since losing power the pilots know their distance to winnipeg they might make winnipeg kintel however thinks that gimli is a safer bet gimli manitoba has a decommissioned air force base it's about 20 miles closer than winnipeg as luck would have it maurice kintel trained at gimli while in the armed forces he knows it well [Music] negative emergency equipment at all just one runway available i believe and no control tower and no information on it pearson must consider the possibility of a crash landing if he has any chance of making it to winnipeg which has full emergency support he knows he must try for it okay then we would prefer winnipeg [Music] fine 143 continue your present heading we all reacted very business-like and say something specifically to uh the situation but never would we ever look at each other i think we were all afraid that we might break down parents were hugging their little kids and people were busy scribbling away which i found out afterwards where they were writing their notes to loved ones and their wills and all kinds of things like that it was pretty nerve-wracking one for three a question if you have the time okay go ahead total number of persons on board please the actual number of people on board is 69 but can tell is over taxed he gives a lower number in error i have 33 people on board including the crew okay i have to ask if soul's on board i know he's busy i don't want to ask him questions uh but i have to and this thing can go down in the lake or the field and i remember thinking great i know this airplane carries about 300 people at least it's not 300. it was about regrets it was about things i hadn't done in my life it was about ways i've treated the odd person here or there that i wish i'd treat it more gently it was about how stupid i was at some of the things i used to make big issues out of that are so insignificant when it really comes down to what real reality is about it was pretty devastating and i remember telling a mother with a baby and i had my daughter victoria didn't tell this woman that it was gonna be okay and i did it i did i was so proud of myself that i could be so straight with her and tell her that it was gonna be all right and really look at her in the eyes okay and how far from the field are we now your 35 correction make that 39 miles from winnipeg roger now that controllers can see flight 143 on radar they can provide kintel with the information he needs to figure out if he can glide as far as winnipeg roger what is your altitude now 8.5 8.5 about 8 500 feet above the ground captain pearson can see his destination winnipeg's airport is less than 35 miles away we're visual but the news from quintel is not good morris was calmly keeping track of our distance by input from winnipeg air traffic control and our altitude and calculated our profile and came to the conclusion that we might not make the runway in winnipeg we can last maybe another 20 miles we're not going to has calculated that at the rate they're falling they would hit the ground a full 15 miles short of the runway uh how far are we from you're approximately 12 miles from gimbly right now uh where is it which way is he moving on your right turn right to a heading of uh three four five i would say you have ten miles to fly okay fine we're gonna go there i'm gonna go check on my family you guys don't need me up here right now huh no no we're okay [Music] make sure your seatbelts are tight already when i went to finally to sit down in my seat this is where i thought wow you know this is it landing gear down roger first officer kintel lowers the landing gear because there's no hydraulic power kintel does what's known as a gravity drop letting the gears own weight drop and lock it into place the two main gear are heavy they fall immediately and two green lights confirm they've locked but the nose gear is lighter it doesn't lock we could hear the main gear clearly uh falling and locking i was not aware the nose gear was was not down and locked it was sort of the last minute and uh if it's something that you cannot control you don't talk about you don't mention it you know the main thing was bring the aircraft on the runway five miles to touchdown roger we have the field in sight five miles from gimli pearson and kintel finally see a runway they can land on but there's a problem we're too close now it's going to be too steep too fast yeah i know pearson is almost at the runway but he's much too high above it if he comes down at a normal descent rate he'll miss the landing strip but if he comes down steeply his plane will gather a dangerous amount of speed he won't be able to stop before the end of the runway the normal approach we have uh leading edge and trailing edge flaps which allow us to slow the airplane down and fly at a slower speed safely we did not have those flaps as they run off the main hydraulic system so what are we going to do so we discussed we are two possibilities one of them was to do a 360 degree turn and lose the um the excessive altitude on the other hand i thought it would take about three minutes and we were already descending at the rate of 2500 feet a minute only about 3000 feet above the ground the plane doesn't have enough altitude to make a full circle it would hit the ground before making it back to the landing strip pearson chooses a second option well i guess i'll just slip it pearson decides to try a maneuver called a side slip practically unheard of on commercial airliners but sometimes used by glider pilots and bob pearson has a lot of experience flying gliders i'm just going to slip it down until we're almost down at the runway and i'll straighten it out okay side slipping involves what's known as crossing the controls here we go pearson plans to force the aircraft into a sideways freefall allowing it to drop quickly without increasing its forward air speed pearson has never actually performed a sideslip in a glider but he's attempting one now in a boeing 767. the only way that i can control our speed and our descent profile with the runway was to induce drag in the fuselage by cross controlling the rudder on the elevators on the tail and the ailerons and the wingtips and cause the aircraft into a crab configuration then i can vary that to increase or decrease our speed or increase or decrease our descent rate pearson controls the plane's descent by using his rudders and ailerons to change the angle of the plane crossing the controls involves tipping the wings in one direction but turning the aircraft in the opposite direction pushing it sideways into the oncoming air as flight 143 begins to drop towards the earth kintel is about to discover something he did not expect the runway he trained at 15 years ago is no longer a runway captain bob pearson is out of fuel out of engines out of options if he can't line up with the runway at gimli he doesn't get a second chance pearson turns the yolk left and pushes the rudders to the right the plane slips to its left we're sitting in the center which is the heart of the airplane where it starts so it's pretty solid there i thought there's a real good chance here that we'll be all right however when uh he put the airplane into a side slip all that went out the window because i figured out if he hits a wing or something it starts to catapult and roll that's not going to work anymore the 767 loses altitude quickly plowing sideways through the air when i looked to the left of the aircraft i was looking directly at the ground because the airplane is angled quite about maybe 60 degrees of banks the bank angle was quite high and the nose of the aircraft was quite high and it was an awkward moment and if it was awkward for me i can imagine for the passengers it must really have failed a lot i saw a sand trap from this golf course and i thought we're gonna crash pearson must maintain a crucial balance he's got to slow the plane enough to be able to land safely but if he slows down too much the airliner could lose its lift and plummet to the ground when a pilot is normally landing an airplane he's maneuvering the flight controls and operating the thrust levers pretty continuously on most landings and so i was doing the same thing without the thrust levers this is where i thought of my daughter victoria being alone with my husband and um and how he was going to cope with with uh with our daughter and how she was going to cope without having a mum as they approach pearson focuses on his target the threshold of the runway i got tunnel vision like i've never had it before it was just our speed and our relationship with the threshold of the runway but now only hundreds of feet from the ground can tell sees that their troubles are far from over [Music] the gimli landing strip has been converted [Music] into a drag racing strip today is saturday and it's not just a race day it's a family day on the gimli strip racing is done for the day but the airfield is filled with members of the local sports car club [Music] camping out with their families for the weekend two children have decided to pedal the length of the runway they don't hear the plane coming for them without engines it's silent and one thing the 767 doesn't have is a horn brace brace for landing the nose hit with quite a bang on the runway sort of like a shotgun going off at our feet the front landing gear gives out immediately pearson breaks hard two tires blow out the bottom of the right engine scrapes the runway i was a robot there was just no emotional thought finally pearson sees what's in their path i looked up and i could see two boys on bicycles they must have been probably about a thousand feet down the runway from our position when i saw them and then at one point i could see he raised his head and he's surprised here's this big aircraft i can still remember the look of terror on their faces so they were close enough for me to see that with no nose gear to steer with pearson's only hope of driving the plane left or right is by varying the brake pressure on the two main landing gear that's when my heart started to pit her pattern a little bit the kids panic and try to outrun a plane that's traveling about 200 miles an hour i knew i couldn't take the airplane into these boys and i was going to take it off into the grass on the right side there were campers along the west side of the runway that i didn't notice until after we'd touched down and the nose was on the ground and i can still remember at the left side people standing by their barbecues dino calvert is at the track with his friends for a weekend of racing one of the gentlemen in the pits suddenly jumped in his car and he took off and thought well you don't drive like that in the pits usually and i looked up and all i could see was smoke rising pearson does all he can to stop the plane in time holy crow the plane plows into a guard rail installed down the middle of the runway smoke bob 17 minutes after running out of fuel air canada flight 143 comes to a final stop on the ground yeah you okay somebody yelled yahoo or something and then people started applauding and we were so grateful we made it when you believe that you're gonna crash you do believe that the airplane is gonna break apart you're gonna have um fire evacuate evacuate evacuate all right let's go we gotta get up thick smoke is quickly filling the cabin the crew doesn't take any chances they want everyone off the plane as quickly as possible there was a sense of joy and then then apparently kind of it seemed to go on waves in a panic saying we gotta get out of here we gotta get out of here less than two months earlier an air canada dc-9 made a successful emergency landing in cincinnati only to burst into flames on the tarmac before all the passengers could get off 23 people died the crew and passengers of this flight want to avoid a similar fate it took maybe uh just a few seconds to come up to a full halt on the runway but uh the cockpit was full of smoke passenger evacuation checklist passenger checklist fuel's shut off off cabin pressurized electric's off electric's off checklist complete time to get out of here come on guys get some fire extinguishers we grabbed a fire extinguisher on our way and you never go to a fire to race track without having a fire extinguisher with you and uh we ran up towards it the doors open up and you see the shoots come on sort of like a spider growing legs the plane ended up eventually standing almost what appeared to me to be almost on its nose when i opened my door and i saw that the chute was so steep i thought oh my goodness how do i get these passages to go down due to the nose down angle of the plane the two rear slides don't reach the ground ten people are slightly injured during the evacuation most of them coming down the steep rear slides i heard on the west radar frequency he said one of the 767 says uh he's down okay he's in one piece and that's when our cheer went up i said okay because all of these people were going to sleep in their own bed that night there's still a lot of smoke coming from the plane's nose [Music] turned out it was about six inches of insulation between the inner and outer skins some friction that was starting to burn the flight attendants have good news all 61 passengers have made it off the plane there's not so much as a single serious injury come give you a hand yeah extinguish [Applause] [Music] bob pearson has done what no one has done before he's safely landed a 767 with no engines gliding to safety for more than 26 thousand feet [Applause] [Music] here canada flight 143 the event makes international headlines immediately people are already asking how one of the most sophisticated passenger planes in the world could have run out of fuel writing down emergency shoots you

Channel: Mayday: Air Disaster

Views: 820,262

Rating: 4.8115377 out of 5

Keywords: MAYDAY AIR DISASTER, MAYDAY, PLANE CRASHES, PLANE DISASTER, PLANES, AVIATION, FLYING, WORST PLANE CRASH, TRAVELLING, AIRLINES, PLANE ACCIDENTS, AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT, PLANE PILOT, CAPTAIN SULLY, EMERGENCY LANDING, BRITISH AIRWAYS, UNITED AIRLINES, U.S AIRFORCE, AIR HOSTESS, CABIN CREW, AEROPLANES, AEROPLANE ACCIDENT, AEROPLANE LANDING, AEROPLANE HIJACKING, PILOT, AIRFORCE, AIRLINE, AMERICAN AIRLINE, TURKISH AIRLINE

Id: GZWjSUDTpOg

Length: 36min 1sec (2161 seconds)

Published: Mon May 03 2021