Kevin Renfrow

For sixty-nine passengers and crew aboard Air Canada Flight 143, the routine flight from Montreal to Edmonton on the 23rd of July, 1983 was anything but routine.

All told, the soon-to-be-dubbed “Gimli Glider” was a nearly perfect demonstration of dead-stick flying, accompanied by an extra-large portion of good fortune.

I’m not going to spoil the ending, but this story serves as a great reminder of the importance of math in everyday life. So, the next time you hear someone tell you that they’ll never use that ‘math’ again, maybe they could use a glance at this epic story of luck, skill, and near-disaster that all started from a simple error.

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=744#more-744

(Just a word of warning - the article does contain some language which may not be appropriate for all audiences)

A little about the author: Kevin is a student at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA. He loves the outdoors and enjoys backpacking, camping, hiking, biking, kayaking, and just about everything. When he's not in the great outdoors, he spends his free time working on web development projects and tinkering with computers. Kevin is currently serving as the Web Coordinator for the Western Region, Order of the Arrow, BSA.