After a total hydraulic failure, the pilots still managed to land just using thrust difference between the two engines. I'm impressed anybody survived.
"The aircraft's fuel gauges were inoperative because of an electronic fault which was indicated on the instrument panel and airplane logs (the pilots believed flight to be legal with this malfunction)."
Dudes, wtf? Unless Canadian regulations differ from US ones, you're not even allowed to fly a single-seater in day VFR without a fuel gauge.
it explains why they flew without a fuel gauge. tl;dr - they knew the gauge was broken, but regs allowed the flight if the maintenance crew did a manual sounding of the tanks and the measured fuel was enough. they sounded and measured, but converted incorrectly between pounds and kilos. I think the pilots were severely disciplined for that failure.
They were disciplined by Air Canada as Air Canada held the pilots and ground crew at fault even though the Aviation Board found Air Canada at fault.
Their disciplinary action was later overturned and "the pilots were awarded the first ever Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Diploma for Outstanding Airmanship."
I read about an earlier incident where all hydraulics in a DC10 failed as a result of cargo door failure as a kid. The passengers on that plane were very, very lucky that their pilot had practiced doing this for fun in a simulator. I suspect that a lot of pilots learned this technique precisely because of the earlier incident.
The interview of the pilot Dennis Fitch by Erol Morris in the TV show First Person [1] is one of the most riveting interviews I've ever seen -- would highly recommend it.
Yeah, that's an amazing story. You know things were bad when your landing kills a third of your passengers and you get a presidential commendation for saving that many.
After a total hydraulic failure, the pilots still managed to land just using thrust difference between the two engines. I'm impressed anybody survived.