1983 Air Canada jet runs out of fuel mid-air, but pilots land safely with all 69 aboard

An Air Canada Boeing 767 carrying 61 passengers and eight crew members ran completely out of fuel at 41,000 feet over Manitoba after a mistake in converting metric measurements caused ground staff to put less than half the required fuel into the aircraft. The pilots managed to glide the 132-tonne plane for 17 minutes without engine power. They made an emergency landing on a former military runway that had been turned into a sports car race track.

According to the official inquiry by the Aviation Safety Board of Canada, all 69 people on board survived the incident on 23 July 1983. Only minor injuries were reported during the evacuation.Confusion over kilograms and poundsThe fueling mistake happened on the ground in Montreal before the flight departed for Edmonton via Ottawa. The aircraft's digital Fuel Quantity Indicator System (FQIS) was not working because of a faulty channel.

Maintenance workers had already recorded the problem. Since the automatic fuel gauge showed no readings, the ground crew and pilots had to work out the fuel amount manually.