Miracle Landing
| Miracle Landing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Dick Lowry |
| Written by | Garner Simmons |
| Produced by | Dick Lowry |
| Starring | Connie Sellecca Wayne Rogers |
| Music by | Mark Snow |
| Distributed by | CBS Television |
Release dates | February 11, 1990 |
Running time | 85 min |
| Language | English |
Miracle Landing is an Emmy-winning 1990 made-for-TV movie based on a harrowing in-flight accident aboard Flight 243 that occured in April 1988. The Boeing 737-200 was flying from Hilo, Hawaii to Honolulu, Hawaii, when it experienced rapid decompression when a section of the fuselage was torn away. With one person swept to their death and dozens injured, the aircraft was able to make a successful yet difficult emergency landing at Kahului Airport, on Maui. The film aired on the US television network, CBS in early 1990 and since been shown on networks throughout the world in syndication.
Plot
The story begins in a flight simulator with two pilots given the challenge of flying a crippled jet to safety. However, they fail and during a post-brief discussion with a superior they discover that the challenge is not computer based, but based on a real life account and that the two pilots managed to fly that plane to safety without the benefit of such training. The actual story begins a few days before the events of Paradise Airlines 243 starting with the personal lives of the three crew members that would be hailed as heroes. Madeleine "Mimi" Tompkins, a First Officer pilot for Paradise Airlines, is jogging along the shores of Honolulu when she meets her husband who delivers news that she has been selected for training to become a full Captain in her airline and soon begins her training with an older captain. Already she was the first female pilot to be hired by Paradise in 1979. Elsewhere, her colleague Captain Robert "Bob" Schornstheimer relaxes with his wife aboard his private boat, before he is soon scheduled to work Aloha 243. Meanwhile flight attendant Michelle Honda bonds with her young daughter by painting her portrait in a traditional Hawaiian costume.
The next day, Paradise Airlines flight 243 begins in Honolulu on a inter-island flight to Hilo that will return to Honolulu later that day. During the first trip, no problems are noticed by any passengers or crew members. During the layover and boarding procedures, the crew bonds over a cheesecake made by Mimi over the celebration of her promotion. Head purser C.B. Lansing then begins boarding procedures and welcomes passengers among them an elderly couple, George and Dorothy Hendricks; a gate agent for another airline non-reving, Roy Wesler; a local luau dancer, Tui; a mother and her son, Gail and David Kornberg, and a newlywed couple, Jeff and Cindy Thomas. All of these passengers are among those who play major roles during the flight.
Boarding procedures are routine, with Michelle chatting with Jeff and Cindy over their vacation, George and Dorothy discussing her nervousness at flying, Roy hitting on Michelle, Gail and David chatting with C.B. with David's manners winning the affection of C.B., and Tui needing a bigger seat, but in actuality just a seat belt extender. After all passengers are seated, the self-supporting airstairs are retracted and the plane begins its first move to the runway for what would be an uneventful flight. During the safety announcements, Cindy frets that nobody ever pays attention to the important message, but Jeff promises his undivided attention if she does the same announcement in her uniform at home.
The flight then takes off over Hilo, and soon beverage service begins. During that time nothing out of the ordinary occurs, and after David receives some cookies from C.B. he calls her back and asks her about the crack appearing in the ceiling. At that moment, chaos breaks loose and the entire front and top half section of the plane apart from the cockpit and cargo hold, blows off in a clean cut. In the mess, Michelle falls to the floor and clings to a passengers seat, C.B. is swept out to her death, and passengers are badly injured from debris and decompression. The cockpit is unaware of the full scale of the disaster and believe a bomb or decompression has occurred. Soon passengers seated in the section that wasn't swept away have oxygen masks fall but it is useless as all the lines were destroyed. But the plane was still climbing and at a low altitude it hadn't affected them. Mimi and Bob contact Kahului Airport for an emergency decleration.
Soon, the pilots are forced with the fact they may crash and passengers may die, both Mimi and Bob have flashbacks to her training days and his Air Force, respectively. Michelle feels she might loose it from the chaos and picks up the call phone only to find it dead. Dorothy leans out of the plane and appears to have a state of shock before George notices and pulls her back in the plane. Michelle then begins to instruct the passengers on a possible crash landing or water landing and passes out life jackets. Roy panics when he sees hydraulic fluid leaking from the wings. The tower alerts Kahului Fire and Rescue personnel and they arrive before the crippled jet lands. Finally after several tense minutes, Mimi and Bob are able to figure out a plan for the emergency.
After some time, the plane lands but with difficulties in the breaks to the vessel and hydraulics. The pilots were worried that the landing might result in broken plane and fire, but miraculously their landing resulted in no deaths and the emergency notification allowed crews to treat and evacuate passengers immediately.
Cast
- Connie Sellecca — Madeleine "Mimi" Tompkins (First Officer)
- Wayne Rogers — Robert "Bob" Schornstheimer (Captain)
- Ana Alicia — Michelle Honda (Flight Attendant)
- Nancy Kwan — Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing (Chief Flight Attendant)
- James Cromwell — B.J. Cocker
- Jay Thomas — Ed Meyer (Maui Tower Supervisor)
- Armin Shimerman — Rick (Maui Tower Controller)
Other Information
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (December 2007) |
- The real name of the airline is not used in the movie. The aircraft (registration N70723) instead bears the colours of the fictitious Paradise Airlines. The real airline was Aloha Airlines.[1]
- An air traffic controller was flying on the jump seat on flight 243, which is not shown in the movie.
- During the filming, Ana Alicia, who played a flight attendant, broke a rib and suffered from a lung infection caused by the smoke used for special effects. [2]
Quotes
- C.B.: Most young boys I know like flying better with cookies.
- Michelle: Mimmmmmiiii!
- Roy: How 'bout a beer?
- Michelle: Yeah, sure, Heineken or Bud Light?
- Roy: I mean when we get back to Honolulu
- Cindy: Jeff, pay attention, I can't stand it when people don't pay attention to the safety presentation.
- Jeff: When we get home, you can slip into your uniform and I assure you will have my undivided attention.
- Tui:I'm Tui, I dance at The Liki-Liki!
External links
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