Soaring

Summary

Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities: Episode Summary – "Soaring"

Release Date: July 1, 2025

Introduction

In the "Soaring" episode of Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities, listeners are taken on a riveting journey through two extraordinary aviation-related tales that highlight human ingenuity and resilience. Hosted by Erin Menke and produced by iHeartRadio and Grim & Mild, this episode delves into the unanticipated challenges faced by aviators and the remarkable solutions that ensured survival against the odds.

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1. The Gimli Glider Incident (00:47 – 05:50)

Background and Challenges

On June 22, 1983, Air Canada Flight 143, a Boeing 767, was preparing for takeoff from Montreal. This aircraft, relatively new to Canadian skies, suffered a critical malfunction: the fuel gauge was broken, leaving the crew unaware of the actual fuel levels (02:10). Captain Bob Pearson and his co-pilot faced a daunting situation with 61 passengers relying on their expertise.

Manual Calculations and Missteps

Lacking automated fuel measurements, the pilots resorted to manual calculations to estimate the fuel load. However, a fundamental error emerged from unit conversion discrepancies. The Boeing 767's fuel gauges operated using the metric system (liters), while Pearson’s team mistakenly calculated fuel weight in pounds, applying an incorrect conversion factor of 1.77 pounds per liter instead of the accurate 0.8 kilograms per liter (03:30).

Emergency Descent and Gliding to Safety

As the plane climbed to 41,000 feet, warning lights signaled dangerously low fuel pressure (04:00). The engines began to fail sequentially, transforming the Boeing 767 into a massive glider. Pilot Pearson, drawing upon his glider experience, skillfully maneuvered the powerless aircraft towards the nearest feasible landing site—a decommissioned Royal Canadian Air Force base in Gimli, Manitoba (04:45).

Daring Landing and Aftermath

Unbeknownst to both the flight crew and air traffic control, Gimli had been repurposed into a motor sports park, leaving only one functional runway. As the aircraft approached the ground, Captain Pearson faced the challenge of aligning the glider with the compromised runway while battling manual controls and adverse air currents. In a tense moment, the plane touched down at high speed, resulting in blown tires and a lengthy skid across the runway (05:20).

Despite the precarious landing, all passengers survived with only minor injuries. Investigations revealed the unit conversion error as the root cause, leading to reprimands for the pilots. However, their quick thinking and diverse skills averted what could have been a catastrophic disaster.

Notable Quote

Erin Menke emphasizes the pilots' critical skills: “Pearson's experience flying gliders ensured their safe landing. And the co-pilot, despite the error, suggested Gimli Runway despite it not being an active airbase” (05:00).

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2. The Canadian Caper (07:27 – 11:47)

Context of the Crisis

Against the backdrop of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, where Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran, Cabinet of Curiosities explores the audacious rescue of six American diplomats. With Western embassies closed and tensions high, the odds seemed insurmountable for the hostages seeking freedom.

The Ingenious Plan: "Argo"

Enter Tony Mendez, a CIA officer whose innovative strategy involved posing as a Hollywood film crew scouting locations for a fictional sci-fi movie named "Argo" (09:15). This elaborate ruse required the diplomats to convincingly assume the identities of Canadian filmmakers—a plan fraught with peril, as any falter could lead to dire consequences.

Execution of the Escape

Disguised as the film crew, the diplomats navigated through stringent Iranian airport security, where any sign of deceit could result in immediate suspicion (08:30). The plan hinged on creating a legitimate backstory, complete with fake passports and exit visas coordinated by the Canadian embassy. The culmination of these efforts was the successful boarding of a commercial plane, orchestrating what history would later celebrate as the Canadian Caper.

Legacy and Reflection

The daring escape not only saved lives but also inspired the acclaimed film Argo, immortalizing the ingenuity and bravery of those involved. Erin Menke reflects on the seamless execution: “They weren't trained spies or actors, and if they faltered for even a second, it would mean prison or worse. Instead, they gave the performance of a lifetime” (10:20).

Notable Quote

Menke highlights the film's cultural impact: “History remembers their daring escape as the Canadian Caper. The Canadians just called it helping out a friend in need in Hollywood. Well, they eventually made a movie about the event. It's called Argo, after the fictional sci-fi film concocted by the CIA” (11:10).

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Conclusion

The "Soaring" episode masterfully intertwines stories of aviation emergencies and covert operations, underscoring themes of human ingenuity, quick thinking, and the fine line between disaster and survival. Through meticulous storytelling and engaging narratives, Cabinet of Curiosities invites listeners to marvel at the extraordinary instances where individuals rise to unprecedented challenges, ensuring safety and freedom against all odds.

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Additional Resources

For those intrigued by these fascinating stories, Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities offers a treasure trove of historical anecdotes and unexplained phenomena. To dive deeper, subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or visit curiositiespodcast.com.

Transcript

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[Erin Menke]

Welcome to Erin Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and mild.

[Aaron Manke]

Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.

[Erin Menke]

In a heavily industrialized world, it's nearly impossible not to take some things for granted. Even the most modern systems require an immense amount of effort behind the scenes. For instance, when you enter an elevator, it's not just automated steel cable and pulleys hoisting you up. It's also every single person who inspected the elevator and declared that it was safe to ride in. In the same way, when you board an airplane, you're in the hands of hundreds of people, from the pilots to the engineers and the air traffic controllers, all of whom are dedicated to keeping you safe. But of course, often it's only possible to appreciate this when things go wrong. On June 22nd of 1983, Air Canada Flight 143 was preparing to take off from Montreal when the flight crew ran into a snag. The plane was a Boeing 767, a relatively new introduction to Canadian airspace, and the systems had proven finicky from the get go. The biggest problem was that the fuel gauge was broken so they could not see the amount of fuel in the tank. The ground crew told the pilot, Captain Bob Pearson, that it would take at least a day for replacement parts to arrive. But Pierson did not want to wait. There were 61 passengers relying on him. Ultimately, the pilots decided to measure the fuel manually, doing the math to convert the weight of the fuel into liters, and then they took off the following day for an estimated flight time of four and a half hours. At 41,000ft, a warning light started to go off in the cockpit, indicating low fuel pressure. The warnings seemed to indicate that the fuel tanks were much lighter than they should be. Then the engines started to shut down. When the first one stalled out, the pilots called air traffic control, requesting to divert to Winnipeg. When the second engine failed, they realized that they weren't even going to make it that far. Their plane was no longer flying. It was just gliding. Captain Pearson had experience with gliders, but there's a steep difference between your average glider and a Boeing 767. The closest airstrip, 12 miles from them, was a former Royal Canadian Air Force base in Gimley, Manitoba. The only problem was that it had been decommissioned and one of the runways had since been converted into a motor park. Neither the pilots nor the air traffic controllers were aware of this, though they only knew that there was a Runway barely close enough for them to reach. As the plane sailed toward the airstrip, systems continued to fail. Pearson's control of the airplane was limited to manual. The weight of the aircraft was fighting against the pilot's efforts to keep it level, banking hard against air currents. Meanwhile, on the ground, the Winnipeg Sports Car Club was holding an amateur sports car race on the track that had once been Gimli's second airstrip. From the ground, the motorists saw a plane plummeting toward their position at an awkward angle. Terrified, they promptly fled across the field. The next problem? While the plane was going too fast for a safe landing, Pierson would have to decelerate, and fast. Otherwise they would skid past the Runway and crash. When they touched down, Pierson immediately slammed on the brakes, causing some of the landing gear tires to violently blow out from the friction. The plane careened forward, skidding across the landing strip for almost 3,000ft before finally coming to a halt, its nose down and tail in the air. The passengers survived with minor injuries. In the aftermath of what would become known as the Gimli glider incident, a review determined that the plane, on top of having a non functional fuel gauge, didn't have any fuel in its tanks. This was puzzling to the crew who had accounted for this. They'd eventually learn that the problem was a mathematical one. The gauges in the new Boeing 767 measured its fuel weight based on the metric system, the first plane in Canadian airspace to do so. So the formula that Pierson's crew used to calculate the weight was incorrect. They should have accounted for 0.8 kilograms per liter, rather than 1.77 pounds. Both Pierson and his co pilot were reprimanded for their error, but in a sense, the passengers were fortunate to have them. Pearson's experience flying gliders ensured their safe landing. And the co pilot has suggested Gimli Runway despite it not being an active airbase. Looking back, it's clear that they had the perfect set of skills to account for their own errors. We should all be so lucky this.

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[Erin Menke]

The thing about airport security is that they're trained to spot a lie. They'll notice in an instant if your palms are sweating, if you avoid eye contact, if any part of your story doesn't add up. Fooling them doesn't just require nerves of steel, it takes an Oscar worthy performance. It was a chilly January morning in Tehran and the airport was buzzing with tense energy. Lines of stiff backed travelers inched through security, speaking to one another in clip sentences while pretending not to notice the machine gun toting soldiers posted at every corner. In this scene walked a group of filmmakers. You could spot them a mile away, not because they were glamorous, but because they were not. The filmmakers were the most aggressively casual people in the terminal, sporting bell bottom jeans, shaggy California haircuts and oversized sunglasses. They carried bulging suitcases, a few tattered movie scripts and the kind of self importance that you typically only find in Hollywood. The Leader, a man with a questionable mustache and an armful of rolled up movie posters, stepped forward first. The name on his paperwork was Kevin Costa Harkins. And as he explained to the Iranian immigration officer, he was a Canadian film producer, he and his crew had spent the last few days scouting locations for an upcoming sci fi epic that they hoped to shoot in Iran's otherworldly deserts. The officer inspected Kevin's Canadian passport with the slow, deliberate suspicion of a man who had heard every excuse in the book and trusted none of them. And to be fair, he had good reason to be skeptical. Iran was embroiled in revolution, and tensions between the country and the west had never been higher. A few months earlier, In November of 1979, a group of Iranian students had stormed the American embassy in Tehran and took more than 50 diplomats hostage. Since then, the city had become one of the most dangerous places in the world for Americans. Many Western countries shuttered their embassies, warning their expats in the country to get out as soon as they could. But Kevin and his film crew had apparently not taken that advice. As he explained to the immigration officer, movies couldn't wait for politics. They had art to make. And besides, they were Canadian, not American. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the official stamped Kevin's passport, slid it back across the counter and waved him through. One by one, the others followed. They held their breaths until the last boarding pass was checked, the cabin doors closed, and the wheels finally lifted off Iranian soil. Seated in coach with champagne trembling in paper cups, the group exchanged shaky smiles. They couldn't believe what they had just pulled off because they weren't filmmakers, they weren't even Canadian. They were six American diplomats running for their lives. During the chaos of the embassy attack in November, a handful of Americans had managed to slip away. For months, they'd hid inside the homes of Canadian diplomats, including the Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor, who risked his life protecting them. Working together, Canadian officials and the CIA brainstormed and discarded countless plans to bring the diplomats home. It was Tony Mendez, a CIA officer posing as Kevin, who suggested smuggling them out on a commercial plane. He concocted the lie about a sci fi film shooting in the Iranian desert and had ads for it printed in Iranian newspapers to lend it legitimacy. Meanwhile, the Canadian embassy provided fake passports and exit visas. The plan's only weak point was that it required the diplomats to lie their way past Iranian immigration officials without slipping. They weren't trained spies or actors, and if they faltered for even a second, it would mean prison or worse. Instead, they gave the performance of a lifetime. History remembers their daring escape as the Canadian Caper. The Canadians just called it helping out a friend in need in Hollywood. Well, they eventually made a movie about the event. It's called Argo, after the fictional sci fi film concocted by the CIA. Oh, and just like the performance that inspired the movie, it too proved to be Oscar worthy.

[Aaron Manke]

I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts or learn more about the show by visiting curiositiespodcast.com this show was created by me, Aaron Manke, in partnership with How Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series and television show and you can learn all about it [e-mail] and until next time, stay curious.

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