In 1983, an Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel at 41,000 feet because fuel was calculated in pounds in

An Air Canada Boeing 767 carrying 61 passengers and eight crew members ran out of fuel at cruising altitude over Manitoba due to a metric-to-imperial conversion error during ground fuel calculations. The incident occurred after ground staff, working with a nonfunctional Fuel Quantity Indicator System, used a litres-based dripstick and the pounds-to-kilograms conversion figure intended for imperial measurements.

The flight departed from Montreal en route to Edmonton via Ottawa, but the crew had to depart with substantially less fuel than required. As a result, the aircraft took off with about 45 percent of the needed fuel load for the planned journey.

While over Red Lake, Ontario, power to the engines failed, disabling main electrical generation and leaving only battery-powered instruments. The pilots configured a diversion and attempted to reach Winnipeg but both engines lost power and the aircraft began a rapid descent.

The crew diverted toward Gimli, a former Royal Canadian Air Force Station that had been repurposed as a drag racing venue. The bomber-like glide and manual controls were managed to land on the dragstrip, with the nose gear failing to lock and the nose scraping along the surface. The aircraft halted within about 3,000 feet of touchdown.

All 69 people on board survived, with only minor injuries reported during evacuation. An official inquiry cited failures in procedures, gaps in staff training, and the mixing of metric and imperial measurement practices across Air Canada’s fleet as key factors in the incident. The damaged aircraft was repaired, returned to service, and continued flying for another 25 years.