Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac (1984) (TV)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Robert Michael Lewis

Writer:

John McGreevey (writer)

Release Date:

1 April 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

THE TRUE STORY. [Video]

Plot:

Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac is a true story based on the crash of Air Florida flight 90 on January 13...

Plot Keywords:

Disaster | Beautiful Woman | Airplane Accident | Based On True Story

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys.

Cast

Jeanetta Arnette	...	Patricia 'Nikki' Felch
Barry Corbin	...	Burt Hamilton
Stephen Macht	...	Joe Stiley
Richard Masur	...	Roger Olian
Donnelly Rhodes	...	Arland Williams
Jamie Rose	...	Marilyn Nichols
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tony Abatemarco	...	Dishevelled Man
Richard Backus	...	Larry Nichols
Richard Beauchamp	...	Jose Tirado
Burke Byrnes	...	Senior First Officer
K Callan	...	Barbara Hamilton
Larry Cedar	...	Jordan
Tamar Cooper	...	Head Nurse
Brenda Currin	...	Ticket Agent
Robert Factor	...	Lenny Skutnik
Robert Jayne	...	Glenn Biggs (as Bobby Jacoby)
Jane Kaczmarek	...	Donna Olian
Kerrie Keane	...	Carole Biggs
Perry Lafferty	...	Senior Captain
Jack Lindine	...	Driver
Lawrence Lott	...	Steve Schemering
Chad Lowe	...	Al Hamilton
Dinah Manoff	...	Priscilla Tirado
Wade Mayer	...	CB Owner
Jack Murdock	...	Mr. Farrell
Ken Olin	...	David Frank
Jack Rader	...	Gene Windsor
Stan Roth	...	Resident Doctor
Thomas Ryan	...	Loud Window Passenger
Connie Sawyer	...	Josie Keefer
Steve Tannen	...	Don Usher
Kate Vernon	...	Donna Adams
Frank Kahlil Wheaton	...	Doctor
James Whitmore Jr.	...	Captain Larry Wheaton
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Kelly Duncan
Bruce Wright	...	Co-Pilot Roger Pettit

Also Known As:

Flight 90 (Philippines: English title) (theatrical title)
Flight No. 90
Florida Flight 90

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Finnegan/Pinchuk Productions

Trivia:

Incorporated original television footage of the survivors as they clung to wreckage and chunks of ice in the freezing water of the Potomac.

Goofs:

Continuity: Some close-up shots of the parked Boeing 737 in Miami show its registration as being N81AF. The real registration of the aircraft was N62AF, accurately depicted in the flight deck.

Quotes:

[Marilyn has the glow of a pregnant woman]
Donna Adams: So, are you?
Marilyn Nichols: Am I what?
Donna Adams: Didn't you get the results from the tests back *yesterday*?
[pause]
Donna Adams: So, are you?
Marilyn Nichols: [big smile on her face] Of course!
[the two women laugh and hug]

"Be careful when you aboard a frozen airplane...."

A good reenactment of the facts of Jan.13th 1982, when AF90 sunk in the freezy Potomac river. How can an air crash change the vision of the survivors about life? We can see in this picture the workers, stewardesses, pilots and passengers amidst a strong snow storm, and the worry of some of them ,specially Joe Stiley(Stephen Macht) about the ice in the wings,and when he asks about it, nobody answers. The actitude of some survivors, as Arland Williams(Donnely Rhodes) is enough to make you understand the meaning of life in a critic situation. I think this is one of the most dramatic scenes of the movie. We see also the drama behind the rescue workers in the helicopter and the efforts to save these shocked people of a frozen river. And the special effects, in the moment when airplane starts to stall and everything falls from the roof of the plane, the safety position of Joe, Nikki Felch, Bert Hamilton and Kelly Duncan( a great play of Kathleen Wilhoite as the youngest stewardess)

This picture shows us an important lesson: You must be very crazy to aboard an airplane in a snow storm, unless you are sure you won't end your flight in an ice trap.