The Gimli Glider is up for auction, nearly 30 years after its death-defying landing with empty fuel tanks at an abandoned airstrip July 23, 1983. (QMI Agency files)

WINNIPEG -- Thirty years after it miraculously glided into town with empty gas tanks, the “Gimli Glider” is looking for a new home.

The famous plane is up for auction.

On July 23, 1983, the Boeing 767 ran out of fuel at 41,000 feet.

It was en route to Edmonton, but was safely “glided” into the former air force base in Gimli.

“It is an incredible story,” said Terry Lobzun, spokesman for auction company Collector Car Productions. “At the time that the metric system was being introduced into Canada, that’s the error that was made — they only had half the fuel.”

The plane humbly returned to regular flight duties for the next 25 years. When it was retired in 2008, the original crew flew it to its resting place in California.

Unfortunately it won’t be flying in to be on display at the Toronto Classic Car Auction, April 12-14. But Lobzun hopes someone will share the auctioneers’ interest in keeping its history alive.