The story of the Kimi Glider
The old Air Canada logo
On July 23, 1983, a Boeing 767-200 passenger aircraft belonging to Air Canada ( The registration number C-GAUN, which was just received by Air Canada that year, was one of the first four Boeing 767-200 aircraft introduced by Air Canada. It only flew for a mere 150 hours. It is a new one that cannot be renewed. (Aircraft) is currently flying AC143 from Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport via Ottawa Macdonald Cartier International Airport to Edmonton International Airport. There are 2 people on board Crew members, 6 crew members and 61 passengers (less than one-third of the attendance rate), including passengers including his wife and children to Edmonton for a two-week vacation, Air Canada senior maintenance engineer Rick Dion, he will play an important role in the next thing.
The Boeing 767-200 passenger plane painted by Air Canada
The captain of the AC143 flight that day was 48-year-old Bob Pearson, with total flight experience It lasted more than 15,000 hours, and the first officer Maurice Kandel had a total flight experience of 7,000 hours. But on the Boeing 767-200, both of them flew for less than 75 hours each.
Aerial catastrophe: Captain Pearson (right) and co-pilot Kander of AC143 flight
When the voyage was halfway through, the flight attendant was invited by Captain Pearson. Rick Dion went to the cockpit to "visit".
"Mr. Rick, the captain greets you."
"Oh-thank you."
"The captain said he welcomes you to the cockpit very much."
Dion glanced at his wife and children, and saw his wife thumbing up at him with a proud face, "Great, I will go now. I will be back soon dear."
"Please follow me ."
Dion and Pearson were friends they met when they were at the Santa Resa Hour Flying Club (a famous local glider flying club in Canada). The important reason is that although he and the co-pilot have more than 22,000 flying hours together, the time spent flying Boeing 767-200 aircraft can be counted with one hand. Compared with this and the old-fashioned flight they were used to before. The new twin-engine jet wide-body passenger aircraft is completely different. During the process of understanding and running-in, it is necessary to communicate and consult with senior maintenance engineers like Dieng. The reason is simple: if they join them and the aircraft only fly for three or four hours a day, the maintenance engineers can be regarded as "getting along with the aircraft day and night", and they naturally have a much deeper understanding of the aircraft's performance and structure than they do.
then Air Canada Maintenance Engineer Rick Dion
"Tuk Tuk--" (knocking on the door)
"Please come in."
"Excuse me, two."
"Hello, Rick!"
——
Original AC143 flight captain Bob Pearson
Original AC143 flight co-pilot Maurice Kandel
After Dieng entered the cockpit, meeting the captain’s old friends was naturally a good deal, and then he was polite with the co-pilot. After that, he sat in the foldable observation seat behind the captain and took over the thick Boeing 767-200 instruction manual handed over by the captain. For Air Canada’s air and ground crews, the Boeing 767-200 aircraft is a new and unfamiliar “big toy”. Everyone is still groping. Therefore, as a maintenance engineer, Dieng will naturally not let it go. Learning opportunities.
At this time, the aircraft is cruising at an altitude of 39,000 feet (about 13,000 meters), but the weather radar shows that it is aheadThere was a blast of air not far away. In order to avoid it, the AC143 flight crew requested the air traffic control department to allow them to climb to 41,000 feet (about 13,670 meters) and was allowed.
The second view of the C-GAUN Boeing 767-200 passenger plane painted by Air Canada painted by our factory director
The plane flies steadily under the driving of the autopilot. The crew in the cabin is getting together with the three maintenance engineers who are not on duty and working on the instruction manual to simulate the emergency simulation operation when the aircraft encounters certain conditions. Captain Pearson is discussing with Dion about an engine failure that he encountered before. When dealing with experience. Suddenly a warning sounded in the cabin. It was a fuel quantity warning, indicating that the pressure of the fuel pressure pump on the right side of the aircraft was too low. Dieng told the crew: There are two possibilities for this situation. One may be that the fuel pump fails and cannot be pumped out. Oil; and another possibility is: there is no oil to extract. However, all three men in the cockpit believed that there was a problem with the fuel pump.
"Fuel pressure?" The captain was puzzled. Didn't the fuel fill up during takeoff?
"How could this happen?" The co-pilot Kandel was also puzzled. "There is a problem with the fuel pump?"
"The fuel pump cannot be operated", the captain said: "I hope it's just the fuel pump failure."
But soon, the fuel pump in the left fuel tank also fired. Alarm sound of low pressure. Could it be that both fuel pumps are malfunctioning? In fact, the Boeing 767 still has an electronic fuel gauge, but the electronic fuel gauge on this Boeing 767 was out of service.
"Rick, what do you think is the problem?"
"What do you mean by me?" Dion paused: "I think it may be that the fuel tank on the left is out of fuel."
"Why is this happening?" The captain and co-pilot still couldn't understand the current situation that there was no oil so soon.
Captain Pearson said that he had encountered a similar fuel pump pressure alarm during the last flight, but that time it was indeed due to a fuel pump failure rather than insufficient fuel. And at this time, the flight management center computer of the aircraft indicated that the aircraft had enough fuel remaining.
But then the reaction of the plane really hit Captain Pearson's face, the speed of the left engine started to slow down, and the sound it made became smaller. This is the rhythm of fuel running out. The plane was still more than 700 miles away from its original destination, Edmonton, and it seemed that it could not fly anyway.
"Let's go to cool down in Nibe, now!" Captain Nielsen, who found himself "fudged" by the flight management center computer, realized that there was indeed no fuel this time, and immediately issued an order to change the route. . Because Winnipeg’s James Armstrong Richardson International Airport is 120 miles away from AC143 flight, it is the nearest airport for Boeing 767 landing and Air Canada has a large maintenance center dedicated to the maintenance of Boeing 767 aircraft.
AC143 route map, the upper left is the original destination Edmonton, the middle and lower is the plane's intended landing place Winnipeg
"Call the Winnipeg (Control) Center, here is Air Canada 143."
"Received, Air Canada 143, please tell me."
"Our aircraft has a problem, request an alternate drop to Win Nibe."
"Air Canada 143, allow Alternate to Winnipeg. Please maintain an altitude of 6000 feet and determine when to approach by yourself. We will clear other aircraft in the channel for you."
"Air Canada 143 received."
End and Winnie After the call at the Bo Air Control Center, Captain Nelson took a breath: "Okay, let's turn. Leaving altitude 410 (41000 feet)"
Who knows just after turning, the aircraft's fuel warning light rang more and more In a hurry, the co-pilot glanced at the fuel gauge, "Oh my God, both fuel tanks are out of fuel."
"Let’s notify the emergency." Then the co-pilot Kandel connected the captain's closed-circuit call: "There may be a problem with our fuel system. We need to switch to cooling down Nibel."
"Got it", after hanging up the phone, the flight attendant connected to the cabin broadcast: "All flight attendants gather in the front kitchen."
"I hope it's just a false alarm." Captain Nelson muttered to himself "Is there anything else we should do?"
"I don't think so." The co-pilot Kandel just responded, and suddenly said "Ouch", "Well, the left engine stalled. "
Now the problem has been thoroughly figured out, and there is indeed no oil.
"Okay, start the single-engine landing procedure." Captain Pearson has been trained to land a Boeing 767 with a single engine and is confident that he can land the plane to Winnipeg with one engine. In the process, all the crew can do is to pray that the other engine, the right-hand engine, will not lose the chain before arriving in Winnipeg.
Details of the C-GAUN Boeing 767-200 passenger plane painted by Air Canada painted by our director 1
C painted by our director painted by Air Canada -GAUN Boeing 767-200 passenger plane details 2
C-GAUN Boeing 767-200 passenger plane details painted by our factory director 3
本厂长 painted Air Canada painted C-GAUN Boeing 767-200 passenger plane details 4
At the same time in the cabin, the flight attendant explained to the other 7 flight attendants to prepare for an emergency landing and opened again Cockpit broadcast: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the flight attendant broadcast. Because of a mechanical problem with the aircraft, we will make an emergency landing in Winnipeg. Please sit in their seats and fasten your seat belts. The crew members of this flight have been dealt with. For complete training in this situation, you may have noticed that some crew members have already begun to prepare for landing. We will explain the landing instructions: you will hear the instruction to take a safe posture before landing. Please take a safe posture immediately until the aircraft is completely stopped. , Please trust us, thank you everyone.”
In the cockpit, the crew began to perform the approach preparation procedure:
Captain: “Prepare for the approach.”
Co-pilot: “Flap 20° Confirm. The ground flaps are invalid.”
When the approach procedure is halfway through, the fuel warning indicator of the right engine also sounded, which means that the right engine will also run out of fuel. As the sound of the right engine gradually disappeared, a series of chain reactions occurred in the cabin: the cabin lighting system was shut down, the electronic display screens all failed, and all the hydraulic systems failed. This meant that the crew could hardly control the aircraft and could only use it. The ram-type turbine maintains the basic power supply on board to certain equipment, such as altitude indicators and airspeed indicators. At this time the plane was flying at an altitude of 26,500 feet, 75 miles from Winnipeg Airport.
AC143 flight used ramjet turbines after all engines failed to maintain the most basic power supply on the aircraft
Captain: "Damn! How did the instrument screen go out!" Then he instructed the deputy Drive quickly and contact the ground.
"Call Winnipeg, this is Air Canada 143."
"Received, Air Canada 143, please speak."
"Both engines are turned off!"
" Oh-my god!" The air traffic control center exclaimed, and the two engines turned off at the same time. This is a dying rhythm. In this case, the survival rate is extremely low, and there has not been a passenger plane that has completely retired under this situation.
"Air Canada 143, MAYDAY! Emergency! We need to be guided to the nearest runway to land."
"We received, Air Canada 143."
Suddenly, the radar of flight AC143 The signal disappeared on the radar screen at the Winnipeg Air Traffic Control Center. The air traffic control center suddenly fell into chaos.
"They are gone! They were here, we lost them! Now theyDisappeared from the screen! "
"I need a junior radar! "The experienced director of the Air Traffic Control Center, Ron Hewitt, who has 20 years of air control qualifications, believes that the plane did not crash, but because the engine was shut down and the transponder lost power, and the use of old-fashioned primary reflective radars can eliminate the use of response. The machine can find the trace of AC143, and then everyone hurriedly split up to prepare the operation table of the primary radar (this thing is usually idle as a backup device and only accepts regular maintenance, so it takes a certain time to activate).
" Air Canada 143, we have lost your transponder response signal and are now relocating you. "
" Air Canada 143 received. "
Thanks to the excellent aerodynamic design of the Boeing 767, it can continue to "glide" for a certain distance even when both engines fail.
I don’t know how long it took, Winnipeg Air Traffic Control Center Finally, the primary radar was prepared. After the commissioning, Hewitt was proved to be right. They found the trail of flight AC143 again. Although the display effect was poor, they found AC143 after all, and the guide resumed.
" This should be them! Hewitt pointed to a dot on the primary radar screen.
"Okay, I found them!" It is 65 miles from Winnipeg and 45 miles from Gimley. "
"Air Canada 143, you are 65 miles from Winnipeg and 45 miles from Gimley. "
" Air Canada 143 received. "
Co-pilot Kandel responded to the ground and Captain Pearson said to him: "Maybe we can fly to Winnipeg." "
" I think Jimley is more secure. There is a long runway there. "
Kandel said this is not without reason, not to mention that Jimley is 20 miles closer than Winnipeg, and there is a military airfield in Jimley-Minnicki Air Force Base, Kandel in 15 years I was trained there before serving in the Canadian Air Force as a fighter pilot, and was very familiar with the airport.
"Air Canada 143 called Winnipeg. Does Gimley have rescue facilities? "
"There is no rescue facility. There is no tower, only one runway, which has been abandoned. We suggest that you continue to fly to Winnipeg. "
"How far is it from the (Winnipeg) airport now? "
" 35 miles-no, correct, 39 miles from Winnipeg. "
" Air Canada 143 received. "
Co-pilot Kandel has been nervously calculating how far the aircraft can "glide" and whether it can "glide" to Winnipeg based on the airspeed and descent rate of the aircraft.
"Call for plus" Hang 143, what is your current altitude? "
"8500 feet. "
"You are still 35 miles from Winnipeg Airport. "
"We have seen the airport. "
"Bob, I must tell you that we can only glide another 20 miles according to the current state of the plane, and we cannot fly to Winnipeg." "The co-pilot Kandel calmly told Captain Pearson the bad news: the plane will crash 15 miles from Winnipeg. Then Kandel calmly connected to the Winnipeg Air Traffic Control Center.
"Plus Hang 143 calls, how far are we from Jimley? "
" is less than 12 miles. "
"Which side is the bearing? "
" Turn right to heading 345. You have 10 miles to fly. "
"Okay, let's fly to Jimley. "
At this time, Dieng who had been in the cockpit got up, "I think you have done everything, I can go back to see my family, do you still need my help?" "
"No, we'll do it, thank you Rick. ”
After Dion got up and left the cockpit, Captain Pearson and the co-pilot Kander put on the shoulder straps, preparing for the final advance.near.
"Don't worry, everything is under their (crew) control." The first thing Dion returned to his seat was to comfort his wife and son who were already nervous to die. At this time, everyone in the cabin was ready for collision avoidance, the flight attendants all sat in their seats and fastened their seat belts. The stewardess also took off their stockings and high heels. Tension was written on everyone's face. If the landing is successful, everything is over. If the landing fails, everything is over.
"Let down the landing gear."
"Received."
Since the hydraulic system has been stopped, the first officer Kandel used gravity mechanical means (that is, the landing gear's own weight is used to lower and lock it). After the landing gear was removed, the heavier main landing gear was successfully seated and locked, but the lighter nose landing gear was lowered (actually half-stopped), but failed to lock. Seeing this scene, the two of them didn't speak, because now they have been overwhelmed, and they said nothing. The important thing is to land the plane on the runway.
"Five miles to touchdown."
"Received. We see the airport."
Since the aircraft is still high at this time and too close to the runway, it landed normally. (The flap system has completely failed) is no longer possible (that would cause the landing to be too late and cause the aircraft to run off the runway). The desperate Captain Pearson decided to "skid" the aircraft onto the runway by means of sideslip. And in this way, he only "played" with a glider in the Santa Resa Hour Flying Club. He had never "played" with a large commercial jet airliner. But in this situation, he must try it.
"I want to side-skate very close to the runway and then adjust the direction."
"Received."
"Cross operation, come on buddy!" (Cross operation refers to taking turns. The rudder and elevator on the tail and the ailerons at the tip of the wing make the aircraft "traverse" in the air to control the approach speed of the aircraft)
Aerial catastrophe screen: use sideslip to move towards Mini AC143 Flight
Air Catastrophe on the approach of the Base Air Force Base: AC143 Flight
using a side-slip approach to the Miniki Air Force Base "Oh, damn it. "When Kandel saw that the main track of the Miniki Air Force Base, which he had been very familiar with, had been transformed into a linear acceleration circuit, and there happened to be a racing race that day. Although the race has ended, there are still a lot of people on the track. crowd. The engine without the engine will have no roar and there is no horn. People on the ground didn't know that a huge passenger plane was approaching, and the two children even rode on the track. But Captain Pearson turned a blind eye to this, after all, he had no turning back.
The runway of the Miniki Airport which was changed into a racing track
Aerial catastrophe: Two bear children are "racing"
Finally, Canada The airline's AC143 flight C-GAUN Boeing 767-200 passenger aircraft successfully entered the runway of the "Miniki (Circuit) Airport" with Captain Pearson's dexterity and skill. When the plane touched the ground, the tires of the nose gear broke and the nose fell to the ground. Captain Pearson used the pressure of the main landing gear to slam on the brakes and burst two tires. In the end, Captain Pearson deflected the airplane by changing the braking force of the two main landing gears, and the nose scraped against an iron rod on the runway to stop the airplane. The co-pilot Kandel recalled afterwards that the distance between him and the two children was so close that he could see their panicked expressions, only about 300 meters away. They started racing with a 200-mile-per-hour plane, each with a bicycle.
Air catastrophe screen: the moment AC143 flight grounded
Air catastrophe screen: Two bear children and the plane "racing"
air Catastrophe screen, AC143 flight
0a that finally stopped3a0#The emergency landing was very successful. All 8 crew members/crew crew members and 61 passengers on AC143 flight survived, and only 10 suffered minor injuries. According to subsequent investigations, if it were not for the unsuccessful lowering of the nose gear, the aircraft would have to stop for a longer distance, with disastrous consequences. This is also a blessing in disguise.
Two days later, the passenger plane C-GAUN was initially repaired and flew to Winnipeg for complete repairs, and re-operated on Air Canada, with a new nickname "Gimli Glider", which has been in service until 25 Years later, his retirement was announced on January 24, 2008. After decommissioning, the flight mission to the Mojave Airport in the California desert was arranged to be the responsibility of the crew that urgently landed flight AC143 in Gimney. Before takeoff, Air Canada arranged a grand ceremony at the airport. The plane said goodbye.
The Canadian Aviation Safety Commission (the predecessor of the Canadian Modern Transportation Safety Commission) reported to restore the cause of the aerial accident:
C-GAUN passenger plane was found in an inspection on July 22, 1983, the LCD fuel display of the aircraft When the meter failed, the technicians found that as long as a circuit breaker was pulled out, the display could redisplay the fuel stock, but the aircraft still had to use the fuel gauge under the wing to determine the fuel stock a second time. On the morning of July 23, the passenger plane C-GAUN arrived in Ottawa. The maintenance personnel in Ottawa found that there was no display on the fuel indicator. After checking the flight record, it was found that the method of pulling out the circuit breaker to make the display redisplay the fuel inventory was different from the correct method, so the maintenance personnel in Ottawa decided to use the C-GAUN aircraft. Replace the fuel display; but because this aircraft was one of Air Canada's first batch of Boeing 767s at the time, Ottawa did not have many Boeing 767 parts. Just as the overhauler was about to use the previous method to make the plane flyable, he was interrupted by the dispatcher, and the overhauler forgot to pull out the circuit breaker. Afterwards, the pilot arrived in the cockpit (although the pilot had learned that there was a problem with the display beforehand, the crew learned that the display was actually not on at all after getting on the plane, and it was not operational like the previous flight). After checking the minimum equipment list, the captain clearly knew that the aircraft could not fly without fuel display. However, the captain believed that as long as the fuel was calculated manually and the fuel gauge was used to measure the fuel, the aircraft could fly safely. So the pilot prepared to replenish fuel and continue the voyage to Edmonton.
Traditionally, Air Canada’s aircraft use the imperial system as the unit for calculating fuel volume, that is, the fuel volume per liter should be converted to 1.77 pounds; however, the Boeing 767 aircraft that have just entered service use metric units, namely The amount of oil per liter should be converted to 0.8 kg. When the crew was informed that they had been filled with 11430 liters of fuel after completing a round of fuel measurement procedures, they mistakenly thought that they had 20,400 kilograms of fuel, but actually only 9,144 kilograms. The crew entered these erroneous data into the flight management computer on board and set off for Edmonton. The
investigation report called the flight crew “professionalism and skills”. Air Canada "neglected to clearly and specifically allocate the responsibility for calculating the fuel load under abnormal circumstances." The airline did not reassign the task of checking the fuel load (this was the responsibility of the old aircraft that the aircraft engineer flew on three planes). The safety committee also stated that Air Canada needs to retain more spare parts, including replacement of defective fuel quantity indicators, in its maintenance list, and provide its pilots and fuelers with better and more thorough metric system training. The final report of the investigation was published in April 1985.
AC143 flight Miniji made an emergency landing and successfully broke the world record for the longest gliding flight of a civil aircraft at that time. The point where the aircraft ran out of fuel was about 31 miles (50 kilometers) away from Gimini, and the aircraft glided for a total of 17 minutes. This record was only surpassed in the 2001 Transocean Airlines Flight 236 accident.
Boeing 767-200 performance data
Crew: crew 2+1 persons + 290 persons (maximum)
Length: 48.51 meters
Wingspan: 47.57 meters
Height: 15.85 meters
Empty weight: 87135 kg
Maximum take-off weight: 156489 kg
Engine: Two General Electric CF6-80C2B2 turbofan engines, a single thrust of 233.5 kN
Economic cruise flight speed : 854 kilometers per hour
Maximum load range: 7413 kilometers
Cruise ceiling: 11250 meters
This accident was included in the Deadly Glide (Gimli Glider) of the fifth season of "Air Catastrophe" (Miracle Flight).
