Freefall: From 41,000 Feet to Zero - a True Story

by William Hoffer, Marilyn Hoffer

On July 23 1983, Captain Bob Pearson entered the cockpit of a twin-engine Boeing 767, one of the most sophisticated airliners in the world, equipped with all the latest technology. He checked his systems and keyed in the information he received from the ground crew. Suddenly, without warning, at 41,000 feet, one of the engines failed. Seconds later, the crew realized that the other engine had also cut out and all electrical power terminated. This is the story of the space-age systems failing and the pilot gliding the massive, unpowered plane and its 61 terrified passengers to safety. In this reconstruction, readers relive the terrors and relief of a near-catastrophe through the eyes of the pilot and passengers, air crew and ground crew, air traffic controllers and witnesses of this miraculous brush with death. William and Marilyn Hoffer have produced over 1000 magazine articles and nine books, including "Not Without My Daughter" and the international best-seller "Midnight Express".

Genres: Nonfiction, Aviation

272 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1989

About the author

William Hoffer has been spinning out international best-sellers for more than 20 years.
He collaborated with Billy Hayes to chronicle the exciting escape from a Turkish prison in Midnight Express, which was later produced into an Academy Award-winning motion picture starring Brad Davis, John Hurt and Randy Quaid.
William and his wife Marilyn worked with Betty Mahmoody to write Not Without My Daughter, the story of Betty and her daughter’s desperate and dangerous escape from Iran. The book became a stunningly successful international phenomenon, and was produced into a motion picture starring Sally Field and Alfred Molina.
William and Marilyn’s Freefall is the nail-biting thriller recounting the near-tragedy of Air Canada Flight 174 that ran out of fuel at 41,000 feet. It was produced into a motion picture starring William Devane, Shelley Hack and Mariette Hartley.
The husband-and-wife team’s latest book is Luke Rules, the adventures and misadventures of Luke Wilde, former Marine Corps sniper turned wily and often contrary private investigator who likes to play by his own rules. Luke Rules is the first in a series of Luke Wilde adventures. The new year will bring William Hoffer's 22nd Torch! A New Luke Wilde adventure.

Reviews

[Aaron Maretzki · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing account of Air Canada flight 143, which ran out of fuel at cruising altitude on a trip from Ottawa to Edmonton. The Boeing 767 is effectively converted into a glider, and the pilots face the task of bringing the aircraft safely to ground. The comedy of errors which leads to the incorrect fuel load being issued to AC143 was both fascinating and frustrating. The story introduces readers to the many individuals involved in the incident, which helps keep a personal feel to the book. This also causes the book to jump around a bit, and I found that I cared about some individual's stories more than others.

Ultimately this was an interesting story that moved at a solid pace and kept me engaged throughout. "Freefall" was clearly well researched and for me a worthwhile read.

[Oupa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply amazing

[Casey Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freefall recounts the harrowing journey of the well known "Gimli Glider". The book gives life to the stories of the men and women who were involved not only in the incident itself, but to the many hands and minds that went into creating such a grievous error. Captain Bob Pearson commands his airship with strong authoritarian rule, and checks and re-checks flight caluclations for his flight to Edmonton, Canada. The new Boeing 767 boasts many new and entrancing luxuries including a wide array of computer managed in-flight directional and navigational instruments. After a series of minor errors including equipment malfunction, maintenance oversight, mathematical conversion errors, and system/ management errors, the story of the Gimli glider takes place. I only wish there was more details regarding the aftermath of the incident, and further detailed accounts regarding injuries and legal outcomes. Highly recommend this short read. I didn't want to put it down!

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

According to the title, this is about an Air Canada B767 that was improperly fueled before a cross-country flight and experienced fuel starvation halfway through its trip. The book is really about a collection of people on board, from the pilots and attendants to the passengers, their personalities and how they reacted to the impending disaster.

As the book points out, many unfortunate thing lined up to cause the near-crash landing and several things lined up to allow people to survive the eventual landing. The actual landing part is quite amazing considering what was going on when the plane came down and nobody on the ground was hurt.

For me, I was not interested in the emotional connections and how the people handled all this. But, that is me; I'm more interested in the mechanical and technical stuff.

[Braxton Schieler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great historical story! The research has been very well done, the writing is decent and organized exceptionally well to keep the story interesting. Science is woven in masterfully and painlessly and the voice is good enough that you can hear the narrator and the characters talking throughout the book. Beyond that, it's a fascinating story. A good read by all accounts.

[Stig Kjær · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeg er stort fan a historien om "The Gimli glider" og af den (utrolige) bedrift Pearson og Quintell udførte. Har set filmen utallige gange.
Derfor var denne bog da et must! Men.....
Synes den langt hen af vejen den var en skuffelse. Langtrukket og rodet skrevet. Den fangede mig først efter ar flyet er landet.
Om det del skyldes at jeg kender handlingen ved jeg ikke.

[Kim Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this and couldn't put it down. My brother is a pilot and it gives insight into what they have to go through in the face of an emergency. The fact that this is a true story made it more compelling.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Closer to 3.5 stars but I liked it a lot, even though I already knew how this flight ended.

[truenorth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed this historical read as it occurred in our province. There were some amazing heroes and one large mistake.

[Chris Tschirhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing true story of the Gimley Glider.

[Marko]

I have the german edition: Sturzflug

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing true story! I was lucky enough NOT to know how the story ended prior to reading this book. This was a page turner. Never look at "Flying" the same way again

[Daledonna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing sit on the edge of your seat book. Story of the "Gimly Glider", but well written, and very suspenseful, even though you know how it ends. One of those books that stayed with me all these years.

[Dr. Tathagat Varma · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing account of the real-life story of the Air Canada flight that ran out of fuel at 41,000 feet, and how its pilot managed to bring ot back safely to earth - without fuel and without any engine power.