Air Canada Flight 143 lost all engine power mid-flight due to a fuel miscalculation, yet landed safely, prompting aviation safety reforms on unit conversion and fueling procedures.
Key Facts
- Date of incident
- July 23, 1983
- Aircraft type
- Boeing 767
- Altitude at fuel exhaustion
- 41,000 feet
- Actual fuel load carried
- 45% of required
- Serious injuries
- None
- Aircraft retired
- 2008
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A failed fuel-quantity indicator sensor (FQIS) aboard the Boeing 767 required manual fuel measurement via dripstick. Ground crews then applied an incorrect conversion factor—using pounds instead of kilograms—when calculating fuel mass, resulting in the aircraft being loaded with only 45% of the fuel needed for the Montreal-to-Edmonton flight.
On July 23, 1983, Air Canada Flight 143 exhausted its fuel supply midway to Edmonton at 41,000 feet. With both engines failed, the flight crew executed a powerless glide and landed the aircraft at a decommissioned Royal Canadian Air Force base in Gimli, Manitoba, which had been converted into Gimli Motorsports Park.
The emergency landing caused no serious injuries to passengers or bystanders and only minor aircraft damage; the plane was repaired and flew until 2008. The Board of Inquiry cited deficiencies in Air Canada training, procedures, and manuals, and recommended converting all Air Canada aircraft to SI units and adopting fuel safety standards already in use by U.S. and European carriers.