🌟✈️ The Picnic on the Runway: The Double Dipstick Disaster of the Gimli Glider 🌟🛬

🔥 A True Story of Math, Mistakes, and Miracle Landings

📅 July 23, 1983 | Altitude: 41,000 ft | Aircraft: Boeing 767-233 | Flight: AC143

It started with a routine refueling stop in Ottawa.
🛫 The 767 had flown from Montreal and was preparing for the long leg to Edmonton.
⛽ It needed 22,300 kilograms of fuel to complete the journey.

But this was 1983 — and Canada was in the middle of a massive shift:
📏 From pounds and gallons → to kilograms and liters.
🌍 The metric transition was underway…
⚠️ …but training and tools weren’t ready.

And that’s when the first mistake happened.

🛠️ Error #1: The First Dipstick Check — Wrong Units 📏❌

The 767’s fuel quantity indicating system (FQIS) was inoperative due to a maintenance issue.
🚫 No digital fuel readout.
So the ground crew had to measure fuel the old-school way:
🪣 With a manual dipstick — like checking oil in a car.

They dipped the tank…
🔢 Got a reading in centimeters…
Then used a conversion chart to find how much fuel was already onboard.

But here’s the problem:
📘 The chart gave fuel volume in kilograms — metric units.
🧮 The crew, used to imperial, mistakenly treated the numbers as pounds.

So when the dipstick said the plane had 7,682 kg of fuel already,
👨‍🔧 They thought it was 7,682 pounds — which is only ~3,485 kg.

📉 That’s less than half the real amount.

So they calculated:
🎯 “We need 22,300 kg total. We have 3,485 kg. So we need to add 18,815 kg.”

But in reality…
📉 They already had 7,682 kg — so they only needed to add 14,618 kg.

❌ Instead, they added 18,815 kg — thinking it was correct.

✅ Or so they thought…

🔁 Error #2: The Second Dipstick Check — Same Mistake, Again! 🔄❌

After refueling, standard procedure required a second verification — another dipstick check — to confirm the final fuel load.

So they dipped again.
🔢 Read the stick.
📘 Used the same chart.

And again…
🔁 They treated the kilogram values as pounds.

So when the dipstick showed they had 20,400 kg onboard (close to the 22,300 kg target),
👨‍🔧 They thought it was 20,400 pounds — which is just ~9,250 kg.

📉 So they believed they were still short — and ordered even more fuel!

⛽ They added another 1,000+ liters — but still never reached the true required amount.

Wait…
📉 They were actually under-fueled — despite adding extra fuel?

Yes.
Because their entire reference point was wrong.

They thought they had ~10,000 kg.
📉 In reality, they only had ~10,100 kg — less than half of the 22,300 kg needed.

✈️ The plane took off…
🛫 Half-empty.

⛽ The Silent Killer: Fuel Starvation at 41,000 Feet 🚨📉

Everything seemed fine at first.
☁️ Smooth skies.
📊 Normal readings.

But as the fuel tanks emptied…
📉 The FQIS began flashing warnings.
⚠️ “FUEL DISAGREE”
⚠️ “LOW FUEL PRESSURE”

Then…
💥 Engine #1 flamed out.
📉 Seconds later…
💥 Engine #2 failed.

🔇 Total silence.
No engine power.
No normal hydraulics.
No fuel gauges.

The 767 was now a giant glider —
✈️ 45 tons of aluminum,
🪂 gliding at 300 knots,
📍 80 km (50 miles) from the nearest usable runway.

🧠 Crew Saves the Day: Glider Skills & Quick Thinking 🦸‍♂️💪

Captain Bob Pearson 🧔‍♂️ — a certified glider pilot — took control.
First Officer Maurice Quintal 👨‍✈️ — knew the area — remembered:

“Gimli! The old airbase! It’s closed… but the runway’s still there!”

📍 Gimli, Manitoba — a former RCAF base.
✅ Long runway.
❌ But now?
🏁 A drag strip.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 And a family picnic.

Yes — people were on the runway.
🎪 Kids playing.
🚗 Cars lined up.
🧺 Families eating sandwiches in the sun.

They had no idea a silent jetliner was descending toward them — with no engines.

🛬 The Impossible Landing: Sparks, Smoke, and Survival 💥🔥

Pearson executed a forward slip — a high-drag maneuver rarely used in jets — to lose altitude fast.

🎯 They lined up.
🛬 Touched down hard.
💥 The nose gear collapsed (it hadn’t locked due to low hydraulic pressure).
🔥 The plane skidded on its nose, throwing sparks like a fireworks show.

But…
🛑 It stopped — just 1,000 feet from the crowd.

😱 People screamed.
👶 Parents grabbed kids.
📸 Cameras clicked.

And then…
🎉 Cheering.
👏 Applause.
🙏 Relief.

✅ All 69 people onboard survived.
Only minor injuries from the bumpy landing.

🎉 “The Picnic on the Runway” — A Legend Is Born 🧺🌞

May be an image of 2 people, aircraft and text that says 'AIR AIRCA CAI ARRAS RA'

The media had a field day:
📰 “Jet Lands on Picnic Grounds!”
🎥 Footage of the nose-scraping 767 surrounded by stunned families went viral (well, as viral as 1983 got).

The event became known forever as:

🎈 “The Picnic on the Runway”

A surreal mix of disaster narrowly avoided and community life interrupted by aviation history.

🔧 Lessons Learned: Never Trust a Single Number 📊🧠

The double dipstick error became a textbook case in aviation safety:

✅ Never assume units — always verify.
✅ Cross-check manual calculations — especially during transitions.
✅ Train crews on both systems — imperial AND metric.
✅ When automation fails, human judgment is the backup.

Even today, pilots are taught:

“If your fuel system is INOP, you dispatch with a stopwatch, a chart, and a calculator — not just faith.”

On aircraft like the Boeing 777, if one fuel probe fails while submerged, the system may blank out ALL fuel readings —
🔧 “Better to show NO fuel than WRONG fuel.”

So smart crews:
⏱️ Start a timer at takeoff.
📊 Log fuel burn per minute.
🗺️ Know expected fuel at key waypoints.

Because when tech fails…
🧠 You’re the last line of defense.

✈️ Final Resting Place: The Legend of the Gimli Glider

The plane?
🔧 Repaired and flew for 25 more years — nicknamed “The Gimli Glider” 🏆
📅 Retired in 2008.
🪚 Scrapped in 2008 — but its nose section is preserved at the Manitoba Aviation Museum.

And the runway at Gimli?
🛠️ Still used for emergencies.
🚗 Still hosts car races.
🧺 And yes — picnics.

But now, everyone knows the story.
And they keep an eye on the sky.

✨ Final Thought: A Miracle of Math, Skill, and Luck** 🙌🌤️

This wasn’t just luck.
It was:
🔹 Crew resource management at its best.
🔹 Pilot skill under unimaginable pressure.
🔹 A warning about complacency, measurement, and units.

🛫 Fuel is life.
📏 Units matter.
🧠 And a dipstick is only as good as the person reading it.

So next time you see a plane land…
✈️ Remember the day a jet glided 50 miles on no fuel,
And landed not on a runway —
But on a picnic, a prayer, and two math mistakes.

Picnic on the Runway ( Real Story )