⋙ [PDF] Free Freefall William Hoffer Marilyn Mona Hoffer 9780312029197 Books

Freefall William Hoffer Marilyn Mona Hoffer 9780312029197 Books

Download As PDF : Freefall William Hoffer Marilyn Mona Hoffer 9780312029197 Books

Freefall William Hoffer Marilyn Mona Hoffer 9780312029197 Books

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Tags : Freefall [William Hoffer, Marilyn Mona Hoffer] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Recounts the remarkable story of Air Canada Flight 143, which lost all power at 41, 000 feet when it ran out of fuel,William Hoffer, Marilyn Mona Hoffer,Freefall,St Martins Pr,0312029195,General,Aeronautics, Commercial;Accidents.,Aircraft accidents;Canada.,AIR TRANSPORTATION,Accidents,Aeronautics, Commercial,Air Canada,Aircraft accidents,Canada,General Adult,Non-Fiction,Nonfiction,SOCIAL SCIENCE General,Safety,Social Science,Sociology,United States

Freefall William Hoffer Marilyn Mona Hoffer 9780312029197 Books Reviews

From inside book jacket

On July 23, 1983, Captain Bob Pearson climbed into the cockpit of a twin-engine Boeing 767, one of the most sophisticated airliners in the world. Preparing to guide Air Canada flight 143 from Montreal to Ottawa and then on to Edmonton, he checked his systems and entered into the computers the information he received from the ground crew. One of the maintenance men, in charge of fueling the craft, experienced a bit of difficulty with his math. The 767's computers utilized only metric calculations, and the maintenance man struggled to convert conventional measures into the unfamiliar numbers. He informed Pearson that the plane was fully fueled when, in fact, it was 26,000 pounds short.

The stopover in Ottawa was brief. They had no plans for refueling and now there was no apparent need.

Then, with no warning, 41,000 feet and westbound over Red Lake, Ontario, the portside engine failed. Seconds later, Pearson and Quintal, his copilot, realized that the starboard engine also had failed, terminating all electrical power. An eerie silence shrouded the plane as flight crew and passengers attempted to deny reality. They were now floating silently at 41,000 feet. The nose of the plane dipped precipitously; the gliding craft lost airspeed and altitude. They had a maximum of twenty-nine minutes to prepare for their certain death.

Freefall is the story of Flight 143. A brilliant recreation in which we relive the terror of those twenty-nine minutes through the eyes of those who experienced it. You will never look at flying in exactly the same way again.

Bill and Marilyn H offer, freelance journalists, together have produced over one thousand magazine articles and nine books, including the international bestseller Midnight Express, and Not Without My Daughter. They live in Virginia.

From back of book jacket

Maurice Quintal gripped his cockpit microphone.
"Winnipeg Center, Air Canada 143," he called.
"Air Canada 143, go ahead," came the reply.
"Yes, sir," Quintal said. Then he spoke the four words that would carry, not only to Winnipeg ATC, but to aircraft cruising over a wide radius. Pilots throughout the skies of central Canada now picked up their ears. Gone was the droning routine of the early Saturday evening. Crew members in other cockpits turned to look at one another, as they heard Quintal's voice crackle over the radio "We have a problem."

Suddenly, at 22 seconds past 0121 GMT, the cockpit was plunged into darkness. The bright, color-coded, easy-to-read data units provided by the flight management computer, the bank of digital displays that reported airspeed, altitude, compass direction, navigational data, engine speed, temperature, and the RPMs, fuel flow, oil quantity-- even the clock and the cabin thermometer--the entire array of "gee-whiz" electronic gadgetry in the cockpit of the world's most sophisticated airliner--vanished in an instant.
The glow of the late afternoon sun illuminated the faces of the three men in ghastly relief.

"How come I have no instruments?" Pearson asked, incredulous.

The answer was as simple as it was terrifying. The Space Age technology of the 767 cockpit feeds upon electricity supplied by generators run by the two massive engines. The engines, in turn, are powered by type Jet A-1 fuel. It had never happened before--in fact, neither Boeing, nor Air Canada, nor Pearson, nor Quintal, nor Dion had ever contemplated the scenario--but if a 767 runs out of fuel, a diabolical domino effect takes place. The engines quit. In turn, this stops the generators, halts the production of electricity, and transforms the computerized cockpit displays into darkened, totally useless cathode ray tubes. To Pearson it seemed as if the cockpit had become the darkest place in the world.

Incredible as it seemed, they had run out of fuel.

--from Freefall

This is an excellent book, especially recommended for pilots, who will understand better than most how difficult the job of the flight crew in saving this plane and its passengers and how amazing their survival was.
I read the condensed version of Freefall via Readers Digest that was extracted directly from this book. It will keep your eyes glued to the pages as this is a true harrowing story. It precedes Capt Sully Sullenberger's similar scenario. Quick background --after graduating from college in Mechanical Engineering in Spokane, I went to work on the Boeing 767 assembly line in Everett Washington in 1989 as a Tool & Production Planner. And had always been an aviation buff. That same year I had joined the Boeing glider club and then that same year (1989) a family member gave me the R.D. copy of this story that ran in a condensed format. When flying a glider that year, I learned that you only get 1 chance to land. I walked onto the 767 daily and it is a large twin aisle jet. It is not enough to say that it is remarkable that Capt Pearson happened to be a glider instructor outside of his flying profession ( as I recall in the story). As Capt Pearson details, Air Canada had just transitioned from U.S. gallons to Metric & had recently ordered their jets to Metric fuel calibration (Liters). When the 767 lost all fuel at 41,000 feet, he was now flying a 130 ton glider. I won't spoil it from here. Extremely exciting action. For me the only other books close in gut-wrenching action is Nimitz Class by Patrick Robinson and Hunger Games.
I was looking forward to an exciting read but was immediately confronted with writing so bad that I decided I would just research the event online to find out what happened and let it go at that. The opening line could have gotten at least honorable mention in a Worst Opening Lines Contest

“Captain Robert Owen Pearson, solidly built, his tanned face dominated by dancing eyes and an ever-present mischievous grin lurking beneath a clipped dark mustache, swallowed the last morsels of his dinner and sat back to relax.” As my husband was driving, I read to him that sentence and a few other choice morsels from the opening pages, and we both got a good laugh.

Wikipedia told me why the plane ran out of gas, so I could just leave it there. On the other hand, I might go ahead and read the book after all – after seeing others’ comments – to experience the minute by minute tension on board.
i loved the book even though i have never seen one written in this format before,it reads more like a play than a book.
I have me the pilot of this 767 aircraft and found his life story as well as the problem's people found in the day converting imperial measurements to metic.
The out come is amazing and the ability of the flight crew unbelievable.
As a person who has had an interest in the aviation industry.It was a no brainier that I had to read how such a modern airliner could reach a situation of no fuel in flight and then how the flight deck reacted to save the situation and everyone's life.
A great book! You get the feeling that you were in the plane with the passengers during one heck of a ride!
Unbelievable Details, into the true story of the Gimli Glider! The remarkable story of the Best pilots; Bob Person & Maurice Quintal under pressure! God Bless, TSM
Excellent read!