"James Farrar" wrote in message

On Fri, 9 Nov 2007 10:36:06 -0000, "Recliner"
wrote:

"Mwmbwls" wrote in message
oups.com

This has overtones of the story of the space exploration vehicle
lost because one manufacturer was callibrating in Imperial Measures
and another in metric. Canadian aircraft have run out of jet fuel
in mid Atlantic for the same reason.

Actually, the Canadian airliner that ran out of fuel did so in the
middle of Canada (or it wouldn't have got down safely). It's
nicknamed the Gimli Glider: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

The 767 subsequently had a full flying career and was retired last
month.

It was a different Canadian airliner that ran out of fuel over the
Atlantic, for completely different reasons. It had a fuel leak
because of a maintenance error.

...and that one got down safely, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236

Indeed it did, though it suffered some epic flat spots, as the flap-free
landing was at much higher speeds than usual, so the brakes and wheels
had to absorb far more energy than they were designed for:
http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/image...y/mvc-003f.jpg
http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/image...y/mvc-002f.jpg
http://www.iasa.com.au/folders/image...y/mvc-004f.jpg