GIMLI -- Capt. Bob Pearson's eyes welled up with tears Wednesday as he was reunited with the boys who dashed out of the way when he landed a plane with an empty fuel tank on a drag strip here 25 years ago.
Two of the boys, now men, were riding their bikes on the defunct runway when they saw the Boeing 767 jet make an emergency landing.
Retired Air Canada pilot Robert Pearson waves to the crowd in Gimli Wednesday afternoon.
They met the pilots and crew for the first time during the 25th anniversary celebrations of the spectacular landing.
"Don't run us over boys," Pearson joked, as the men coasted to the ceremony on bikes. "I don't recognize you, but I don't think you're displaying that look of fear in your eyes."
The dramatic incident -- later known as the Gimli Glider -- happened on July 23, 1983 when the plane ran out of fuel at 40,000 feet near the Manitoba-Ontario border on its way from Ottawa to Edmonton.
When the flight crew realized they couldn't make it to Winnipeg, First Officer Maurice Quintal suggested landing at Gimli's old airforce base where he once served. Crew members glided the plane to safety on the old runway -- then being used as a drag racing strip -- causing only minor damage to the passenger jet.
Pearson became emotional Wednesday as the boys rode in, just as he did when he saw them frozen in fear on the runway many years before.
Artist Dave McNabb, left, shows Pearson his artwork on the seawall on Lake Winnipeg in Gimli.
Quintal took a more light-hearted approach to the reunion.
"I sort of smiled because I looked at the small bicycles these big men were riding," Quintal said, referring to the child-sized bikes. "It was unbelievable to see their reactions."
Art Zuke, who was 14 at the time, said meeting the pilots was an experience that was years in the making. "I remember this image of them in the cockpit, and meeting them was a beautiful moment," Zuke said.
Kerry Seabrook was 11 years old when the plane landed only feet away. He was excited to find out what the pilots were thinking when they first saw the boys.
"When the plane finally came to rest, I could see them and they could see us," Seabrook said. "It was a moment frozen in time and there was panic on their faces."
Local artist Dave McNabb painted a seawall mural of the jet and the boys. More than 1,000 spectators watched as McNabb, the pilots and the runway boys unveiled the painting.
The celebration began with a parade down Centre Street led by two RCMP officers in dress uniform. The pilots, crew and dignitaries, such as Gimli mayor Tammy Axelsson, rode the parade route in classic cars.
"Gimli is more than a second home now," Pearson said. "I'll come up with better words later, but for now I'm speechless."
meghan.hurley@freepress.mb.ca
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