Freefall at Forty-One Thousand Feet: The Story of the Gimli Glider
On July 23, 1983, Air Canada Flight 143 cruised smoothly at 41,000 feet above central Canada. The aircraft, a brand-new Boeing 767, was among the most sophisticated passenger jets in the world. It featured advanced digital screens, automated flight computers, and modern safety backups. Yet, somewhere over Ontario, a warning alarm chimed in the cockpit. Within minutes, both of the airplane's massive jet engines shut down completely. High above the clouds, a commercial airliner carrying sixty-one passengers and eight crew members had suddenly transformed into an enormous, eighty-ton glider.
To understand how an advanced jet could run completely out of fuel mid-flight, investigators had to look beyond a simple mechanical breakdown. The incident was not caused by a single leak or a lone technician making a careless calculation. Instead, a complex chain of interacting failures—ranging from faulty equipment to shifting measurement systems and miscommunication—set the stage for near-disaster.
- dripsticks:
- Under-wing measuring rods used to physically measure the depth of liquid fuel in a tank.
- specific gravity:
- A measurement factor used to determine the mass of a liquid based on its volume.
- flameout:
- The sudden shutdown of a jet engine caused by the loss of fuel or combustion.
- optimal glide speed:
- The specific flying speed that allows an unpowered aircraft to travel the greatest forward distance per unit of altitude lost.
- forward slip:
- An aerodynamic maneuver where the airplane's controls are crossed to fly sideways, generating drag to lose altitude rapidly without speeding up.
- aerodynamic drag:
- The frictional air resistance that slows down an object moving through the atmosphere.
- standard operating procedures:
- Established, step-by-step instructions designed to help workers carry out complex routine operations safely and consistently.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1Why was relying on fuel volume alone insufficient for calculating the aircraft's fuel needs?
- 2How did the national transition between measurement systems contribute to the fuel calculation error?
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About this explanatory article passage for Middle School
“Freefall at Forty-One Thousand Feet: The Story of the Gimli Glider” is a explanatory article reading passage about The Gimli Glider Incident, written for Middle School. It takes about 7 minutes to read (1,023 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.