Air Canada Flight 143: Pearson’s Sideslip Landing at Gimli

This episode tells the story of Air Canada Flight 143 from the flight deck, the cabin and the radar room. It uses interviews with the crew, passengers, an off-duty Air Canada maintenance engineer on board and the Winnipeg controller. It stops when the aircraft comes to rest, so it says little about why the fuel ran out. The companion episode covers that.

A new aircraft and a confusing warning

The 767 was one of four that Air Canada had recently received, and this one had about 150 hours on it. Captain Bob Pearson had more than 15,000 hours, and First Officer Maurice Quintal had more than 7,000, but both were new to the type. Partway to Edmonton, a low fuel pressure warning sounded, then a second. The flight management computer still showed plenty of fuel, and the fuel gauges were out of service. Rick Dion, the maintenance engineer, was visiting the flight deck and thought the flashing lights looked like a tank running dry. Pearson diverted to Winnipeg.

Two engines out

The left engine stopped, and the crew began a single-engine checklist. The right engine followed and the colour displays went black. Pearson had been trained to land a 767 on one engine but not with none. A ram air turbine dropped out of the fuselage to drive a small hydraulic pump and keep the controls working. Note: the episode puts the second engine failure at 26,500 feet, while the Board of Inquiry gives 35,000 feet.

Lost on radar

With no electrical power to the transponder, the aircraft disappeared from the Winnipeg controller's secondary radar. Controller Ron Hewitt switched to the older primary radar, found the aircraft and gave its distance: 65 miles from Winnipeg and about 45 from Gimli. Quintal's calculation showed they would come down well short of Winnipeg, and the crew turned for Gimli, about 12 miles away.

The sideslip

The aircraft was too high and too fast for the runway, and with no flaps it could not slow down normally. A full circle would have taken too long. Pearson chose a sideslip, crossing the rudder and ailerons so the aircraft dropped steeply without speeding up. Passengers describe looking almost straight down at the ground.

The drag strip

Quintal recognised that the runway he had trained on had been turned into a drag strip, with families camped beside it and two boys on bicycles on the runway. The aircraft made almost no noise. The nose gear, which had not locked, collapsed on touchdown, two tyres burst, and Pearson steered with differential braking. The aircraft came to rest after hitting a guardrail down the middle of the runway, 17 minutes after running out of fuel. Smoke filled the cabin and the crew ordered an evacuation. Because the nose was down, the rear slides did not reach the ground, and about ten people were slightly injured. People from the race meeting used fire extinguishers on burning insulation in the nose. Every passenger got off the aircraft.