

Gimli Glider: When systems go wrong. - RiderOfGiraffes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

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jgrahamc
Do not watch the movie version of this
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falling_from_the_Sky:_Flight_17...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falling_from_the_Sky:_Flight_174)).
It's inaccurate and overly dramatic.

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RiderOfGiraffes
It would be interesting to find a film version of a real event of which the
same cannot be said. The film "U-571" springs to mind, although is most likely
an extreme case.

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chaosprophet
You might want to watch the documentary series Mayday (also called Air Crash
Investigations). They had an episode called "Gimli Glider".

Wikipedia:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mayday_episodes#Season_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mayday_episodes#Season_5)

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megaduck
I see that the pilot demotions were temporary, and didn't negatively impact
their careers. They also received the first ever FAI diploma for "Outstanding
Airmanship".

Goes to show that any crisis, even a self inflicted one, can become a net win
if you recover well, learn your lesson, and nobody gets killed.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Many were killed in a Sioux City crash landing; the pilot Captain Al Haynes,
still buckled into the ruined cockpit part of the wreckage, when informed that
over 100 died exclaimed "My God, I've killed 100 people!". His rescuer replied
"No, you saved 200". This flight crew is regarded as heros too (and rightly
so). It was a freak failure of the DC10 triply-redundant hydraulic system, yet
the flight crew, steering the plane using only the two remaining engines'
throttles, put the nose wheel on the centerline of the runway.

~~~
megaduck
In that situation, the fact that it was a freak accident totally exculpates
the pilot. He did an admirable job under impossible conditions.

With the Gimli Glider, Captain Pearson took some of the blame because he flew
the plane when the minimum equipment list said he shouldn't have, and he
miscalculated the quantity of fuel on board.

It's quite possible Captain Pearson would have been hung out to dry if there
had been fatalities. Instead, his admirable performance in the air was enough
to almost entirely outweigh whatever mistakes he made on the ground.

~~~
sokoloff
It is often said that there is no such thing as an "Emergency Takeoff"

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youngian
Other fun stories of software gone wrong, off the top of my head:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_5_Flight_501>

[http://www.pcw.co.uk/computing/analysis/2073427/emergency-
ro...](http://www.pcw.co.uk/computing/analysis/2073427/emergency-room-london-
ambulances-won-crash-again-expert)

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furyg3
_"[...] the cockpit warning system sounded again, this time with a long "bong"
that no one present could recall having heard before.[3] This was the "all
engines out" sound, an event that had never been simulated during training"_

Whoa. I wonder if it was intentional or not to leave out an almost no-win
simulation from the training.

