What Was the Second-Most-Famous Town in Canada, 20 Years Ago?

It's hard to believe that it was 20 years ago, when most of us first heard of Gimli, Manitoba. It's a heck of a place to land a 767, even today; but on July 23, 1983, Captain Bob Pearson and First Officer Maurice Quintal were sitting in the front seats of Air Canada Flight 143, cruising along at a heady 41,000 feet, when trouble hit: the big bird was running out of fuel.

The flight had left Montreal with every intention of going to Edmonton; nobody had planned on a stop... in Winnipeg. As it turned out, Winnipeg would have looked good, really good.

Captain Pearson learned a few things that day himself, as he found himself with four crew members and just 61 PAX in a glider, 28,500 feet up -- but still 65 miles out of Winnipeg.

F.O. Quintal remembered having been stationed at Gimli, which, as a disused base, wasn't on the airline's charts; but he reckoned its 6800-foot runways would be clear... if they were still there. They were, and in good condition. Still, they were a long way down, and kinda short; and there wasn't going to be a go-around. [The shot of Gimli (above), taken from a Space Shuttle years ago, probably looked like what Captain Pearson saw --ed.]

Pearson conserved altitude until he had the field in sight, and then noticed that he had conserved plenty. He was 'way high. Having been trained properly in the finer aspects of puddle-jumper piloting, he did what any good Taylorcraft or Aeronca or Cub pilot would have done: he slipped his 300,000 pound Boeing in, to an otherwise uneventful landing. It was delicate -- that big rudder was stuck on the end of a very long tube made of of very thin aluminum -- but it was do-able, as they all found out. (Good ol' Boeing, overbuilt just enough.)

The only injuries were registered when the passengers used the slides.

They still fly gliders out of Gimli. They fly 'em in, too -- but most of those gliders weigh less than your car, not more than your house.

For you historians, here's a great account of the whole event:

FMI: www.casa.gov.au/avreg/fsa/03jul/22-27.pdf