Freefall [Hardcover]

William Hoffer (Author), Marilyn Mona Hoffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1989

The heart-stopping, real-life thriller by the international bestselling authors of Midnight Express and Not Without My Daughter. Air Canada Flight 143 was heading west into the evening sun--toward the majestic Canadian Rockies. Then the unthinkable happened . . . both engines failed and Flight 143 became a 132-ton glider. Martin's.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a factual, hair-raising account of a 1983 Air Canada Boeing 767 that, due to a maintenance man's mathematical error in fueling and a fuel system computer malfunction, ran out of fuel and immediately lost all electrical power while in flight at a height of 41,000 feet. Captain Bob Pearson received many accolades for successfully landing the plane at an abandoned Canadian Air Force Base. The journalist authors tell the story of the 29-minute glide and the gripping real-life terror from the perspectives of the pilot, crew, air traffic controllers, and passengers. The book is well-written and has an excellent postscript which discusses the lengthy investigation, the issue of assigning blame, and the subsequent modifications made to procedures, checklists, and equipment. William Hoffer coauthored Midnight Express (LJ 4/15/77).
- William A. McIntyre, N.H. Vocational Technical Coll. Lib., Nashua
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 263 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (March 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312029195
• ISBN-13: 978-0312029197
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,670,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I was there...., February 22, 2000

By 

Chris (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freefall (Paperback)

Hey, my name is chris, i happend to be on flight 143, the flight this book is wriiten about. when it happend, i was only 3, although i still remeber it. I read this book when i was 12, and from my memories of the flight, it was dead on, great book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top flight non-fiction suspense, April 3, 2007

By 

C. J. Leach (Midwest, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Freefall (Hardcover)

I read this book while on a recent 10 hour trans-Atlantic flight to pass the time and kind of spice things up (e.g. turn my long flight into a Disneyesque "Roller Coaster of Death" ride, where you really know you're going to step off perfectly intact at the end).

This great non-fiction book gives a detailed recounting of Air Canada flight 143, which in 1983 ran flat out of fuel while at 41,000 feet over Middle of Nowhere, Manitoba. Yes, TRUE STORY! (Don't let the 41,000 feet scare you -- altitude is your friend when out of fuel).

The writers give a little biography of some of the key crew members and passengers, which was only somewhat interesting to me (however, I was very interested in the flying history/experience of the cockpit crew). The star of the story however, is the fuel-less Boeing 767 and the frantic efforts of the Air Canada team to get the plane on the ground safely.

Authors William and Marilyn Hoffer did an excellent job of providing the technical aspects of the aircraft and industry without ever going over my head. I felt like I understood at each stage of the story, why something had happened to the aircraft, and what the impact was. Ditto for the sequence of actions by the entire flight crew.

I'm assuming the reader has figured out that this wasn't a mass loss of life disaster (duh, there is even a previous Review by a person that claims to have been on the flight). Not wanting to give too much away, I'll merely add that many fortuitous "coincidences" in the tale were not lost on me. Such as: Captain Bob Pearson was a hobby glider pilot (767s are not designed to "glide", but when in such straits, every bit helps), and, another occupant on the plane "vaguely recalled" a possible landing sight. There were many such bits and pieces which fit together and kept this from become a huge disaster. I was AMAZED at how many things were outside of the pilots scope of training and flight manual contingencies (This was 1983. Things are better now.?).

Plenty of white-knuckle moments. There were even some injuries . . . the source of those is a bit of irony. A few slow parts to the book, but then back to the cockpit and the excitement. The suspense becomes literally heart-pounding as the plane sinks ever closer to the ground.

It's an easy, quick, and rather educational read. Pick up a copy for your next long flight.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Story, February 27, 2002

By 

"dbasarab16" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freefall (Paperback)

This book is like glue. Once you put it into your hands you can't put it down. This is a story based on factual events that could not have a better ending. Great analysis of the chain of events that led to this incident. I strongly recommend it.