In July 1983, a Boeing 767 flying from Montreal to Edmonton ran out of fuel because of a malfunction in its fuel information system. With no engines, Captain Bob Pearson, an experienced glider pilot, and First Officer Maurice Quintal glided the plane to a former airstrip in Gimli, Manitoba.
The strip was being used by a sports car club, and people had to scatter. The pilots performed a sideways “slip” manoeuvre to slow the aircraft, which came to a halt with only minor injuries among passengers. The episode became known as the “Gimli Glider”.
Now the two men will be inducted into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame and receive the Aviation Distinction Award next September in Calgary. Pearson would only accept the honour together with Quintal, who died in 2015: “We worked as a team,” he told CBC.
