Gimli Glider Movie Considered
One of Canada’s best flying stories has caught the attention of Hollywood. Inkubate Entertainment is in the early stages of putting the story of the Gimli Glider on the silver screen. “The latest we’ve heard is that they’ve hired two scriptwriters,” Bob Pearson, captain of fuel-starved Air Canada Boeing 767 told CTV “We never know, but we are hopeful, and it’s, of course, something very interesting to be involved in.”
Pearson, who is now 82, was in the left seat of the brand new widebody on July 23, 1983, when it inexplicably ran out of fuel at 38,000 feet over Northern Ontario. “There was a loud bong and the cockpit (and) the flight deck simply went black,” said Pearson. “We (were) a great big glider.”
He and First Officer Maurice Quintal, who has since died, initially headed for Winnipeg for an emergency landing but calculated they wouldn’t make it. The former military airfield at Gimli was closer and they turned toward it. The abandoned runway was filled with families attending go-kart races when the huge aircraft swoops silently into view, side slipping to lose altitude and speed. Although the nosegear wasn’t fully deployed and collapsed on touchdown, there were no injuries on board or on the ground. The aircraft was repaired and went on to fly for the airline for more than 30 years. A mix-up between metric and imperial measures led to insufficient fuel being loaded for the flight from Montreal to Edmonton.
Avgas Shortage Now Canada-Wide
Once again Canada is experiencing a shortage of 100LL Avgas. We first became aware when Pitt Meadows-based fuel supplier Aero Club of British Columbia sent out a notice to customers and stakeholders on July 18 […]
Some of this Week’s Other Highlights in Brief
One of the announcements related to Canada at AirVenture this year was that Tecnam has received Transport Canada approval for the Italian company’s P-Mentor, a two-place trainer that had already received EASA (European) and FAA […]
DND Looking to Demobilize the Snowbirds’ Tutor Jets (again)
Once again, the Department of National Defence is talking about getting rid of the RCAF’s fleet of Canadair CT-114 Tutor jets. The aircraft, used by the military’s iconic Snowbirds, are now in their 7th decade, […]
Noorduyn Norseman on the Move
A Noorduyn Norseman bush plane, suspended inside the atrium of Suncor’s office building in downtown Calgary for the last 40 years, is moving out. In fact, it is returning to a home it once knew […]
Some of this Week’s Other Highlights in Brief
A glitch in the certification of a new storage tank at an Edmonton refinery has led to a scarcity of avgas across western Canada. Many fuel facilities at airports around B.C.’s Lower Mainland began running […]
Mid-Air Collision in Alberta
A rare occurrence in Canadian skies to be sure, but a mid-air collision did take place this week not far from Alberta’s Villeneuve airport (CZVL), and remarkably no one was killed or even injured. At […]
Some of this Week’s Other Highlights in Brief
Joby Aviation has announced the completion of a 523-mile flight with its eVTOL using a combination of batteries and an on-board hydrogen fuel cell. The only emission the aircraft produced during the flight was water […]
Helicopter Firefighting Fatality
Although wildfire activity across Canada is noticeably lighter this year than in recent years, the risk associated with fighting them remains. Last week a Bell 212 helicopter belonging to Great Slave Helicopters crashed near Fort […]
Some of this Week’s Other Highlights in Brief
PAL Aerospace pilots have ratified their first collective agreement on Wednesday (July 3), according to a press release issued by their union, the Air Lines Pilot Association, International (ALPA). The three-year contract includes pay hikes, […]
The RCAF’s Canada Day Celebrations
This year’s Canada Day celebration in Ottawa will include a larger than usual display by the Royal Canadian Air Force, not unexpected given this, their 100th anniversary. While the Snowbirds can always be counted on […]
Give Hope Wings Raises Over $170,000
The national charity Hope Air is the recipient of over $170,000 in donations that have been raised by Give Hope Wings (GHW) in three separate flying expeditions across Canada in June of this year, with […]
Some of this Week’s Other Highlights in Brief
KF Aerospace founder and current board chairman Barry Lapointe was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada on Thursday (June 27). Originally established in 1970 as Kelowna Flightcraft, the company is now Canada’s […]
Final Flight For Hawaii Mars Aug. 10
Coulson Aviation has set Aug. 10 for the final flight of the Hawaii Mars waterbomber. The company had previously said the massive Martin Mars flying boat would be transferred to the B.C. Aviation Museum in […]
First Commercial Electric Flight In Canada At Campbell River
The first commercial aircraft flight in an electric airplane took place in Campbell River, B.C. Edwin Clements, 15, a local Air Cadet, was the first paying customer in Sealand Aviation’s Pipistrel Velis Electro. Clements actually […]
Some Of This Week’s Other Highlights In Brief
-A Calgary pilot and adventurer was killed in an accident in Albany, New York on June 17. Natalie Gillis, 34, was also a poet and photographer and earned her ATP in early May. She had […]
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