1.28 Out Of Gas At 41,000ft: The Unbelievable Story Of The Gimli Glider episode artwork

EPISODE · Dec 30, 2020 · 45 MIN

1.28 Out Of Gas At 41,000ft: The Unbelievable Story Of The Gimli Glider

from The Dork-O-Motive Podcast · host Brian Lohnes

On July 23, 1983 a Canada Air 767 with 61 passengers and eight crew aboard ran out of fuel while flying over a remote area of Ontario, Canada at 41,000ft. The pilot and co-pilot were able to take the airplane and glide to to a harrowing but safe landing on a drag strip in Gimli, Manitoba, Canada. The outcome was less a miracle and more an amazing example of expert pilot work from Captain Robert Pearson and co-pilot Maurice Quintal. But how did this happen? How did a modern airliner run out of gas halfway through a flight? How did this impossible scenario come to pass? A series of coincidental mistakes culminating with some bad math set the wheels in motion to produce the scenario that was and will forever be known as The Gimli Glider. This is the story about how some small breaks in communication, a mis-calculated math problem, and dauntless skill all combined to create one of the most fascinating stories in the history of modern aviation.  Think running out of gas in your car is annoying? Try it miles in the sky while trying to get hundreds of thousands of pounds safely to the ground!  

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Dec 30, 2020

Embed this episode

Ready to play

1.28 Out Of Gas At 41,000ft: The Unbelievable Story Of The Gimli Glider

0:00 45:51

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of The Dork-O-Motive Podcast?

This episode is 45 minutes long.

When was this The Dork-O-Motive Podcast episode published?

This episode was published on December 30, 2020.

Can I download this The Dork-O-Motive Podcast episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!