MovieChat Forums > Mayday (2003) Discussion > Why was pilot in Gimli Glider so despise...

Why was pilot in Gimli Glider so despised?

posted 10 years ago by OlLineRebel
8 replies | jump to latest

I haven't seen the episode in a while, but I was blown away by the story of the pilots amazingly avoiding major disaster in the Gimli Glider incident.

They seemed to indicate the pilots were somehow implicated in the problem or otherwise snubbed. I don't get it. These guys were geniuses and heroes! If they did anything wrong, it was more than redeemed by their brilliant performance getting that thing down without an injury. Stunning! Why the disrespect?

[–] Alan_Smithee_Jr 10 years ago

Because it was their job to monitor the fuel consumption. The same with the Air Transat glider. All survived but it could have been disastrous.

[–] Gypsy12 9 years ago

They did monitor it. How were they to know the maintenance guy used the wrong measurement? From their knowledge, position and standpoint, they did everything they possibly could.

[–] franzkabuki 10 years ago

Well, miscalculating the amount of fuel on board so that you`ll run dry halfway to the destination is a pretty huge error to make and you can`t expect to get away with it without any reprimands, no matter the later heroics (and I`m sure Captain Bob Pearson himself would very much agree). But, anyway, no one is "disprespecting" the flight crew as the flak they received is little more than a sidenote of the great aviating feat they went on to perform. In fact, in addition to short term suspensions both pilots received Canada`s first ever award for outstanding airmanship and nobody remembers the flight as the event where Captain Pearson fouled up the numbers, but rather the one where he displayed some exceptional aviating skills.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] jn15-3 9 years ago

The maintenance worker was the one who miscalculated the fuel. His digital reader was not working and his other device showed the incorrect amount of fuel. How is he supposed to know?? Should he have cancelled the flight because of the digital reader being out of service? I guess maybe double-checked the maintenance worker who fueled the plane's numbers, but was that his job? Was he trained to do it, was it on his checklist?

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[–] haynes-2 9 years ago

It was during the period Canada was switching over to the metric system from imperial.

[–] HeavenlyReaction 7 years ago

Well, I watched the episode a long time ago, but unlike you, I actually found that episode very "pilot-friendly". I got the impression the pilots were praised a lot for their professionalism, and the entire episode was extremely positive. Even if the pilots did make some mistakes, the producers mostly concentrated on their heroic actions during the flight. So no, no demonisation here, not at all.

[–] OlLineRebel 7 years ago

No, I was not complaining about the TV program. I meant the public at large, government, press, etc. The show indicated that these men were disdained as causing the problem as well as solving it.

[–] DrRed (519) 4 years ago

The show glossed over the fact that the pilots knew about problems with the fuel guages before they took off. Also if they had hit the kids on the bikes at Gimli their hero status would have gone right out the window.