Hostage Flight (TV 1985)

Trans Allied Flight 136 is hijacked in flight and diverted by its four captors to New York's JFK Airport. When the plane departs for London and the terrorists begin murdering hostages, the passengers begin to fight back.

Director:

Steven Hilliard Stern

Writers:

Felix Culver (teleplay), Stephen Zito (teleplay),

Stars:

Ned Beatty, Barbara Bosson, René Enríquez

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ned Beatty	...	Art Hofstadter
Barbara Bosson	...	Roberta Spooner
René Enríquez	...	Hector (as René Enriquez)
Jack Gilford	...	Mr. Singer
John Karlen	...	DiSalvo
Frank McRae	...	Bart Cooper
Mitch Ryan	...	Captain Malone (as Mitchell Ryan)
Dee Wallace	...	Laura Kenrick (as Dee Wallace Stone)
Kristina Wayborn	...	Ilsa Beck
Ina Balin	...	Rita
Kim Johnston Ulrich	...	Jane (as Kim Ulrich)
Frank M. Benard	...	Jean Batiste Ronet
Frank Annese	...	Nasrallah
Michael Alldredge	...	Bradigan
Allan Miller	...	Lawyer

Storyline

A U.S. domestic flight is hijacked by psychopathic terrorists who are demanding the release of their leader from a U.K. prison. One at a time, these low-lifes begin ruthlessly & cold-bloodedly murdering passengers & crew members when their demands are not met. But what no one - including the terrorists - knows is that an armed police officer is on board, and he and the other passengers stealthily plot to overpower their tormentors. After a female flight attendant is viciously murdered by the ringleader, they strike. The police officer guns down a terrorist standing in an aisle, while two flight attendants throw scalding hot coffee in the face of the terrorist leader. A third terrorist is overpowered by other passengers when he tries to come to his friends' aid, and the fourth in the cockpit is knocked unconscious by the police officer & flight crew. Now the psychopaths are bound & at the mercy of the people they had abused & tortured for hours, and the passengers themselves are ...

---

Genres:

Thriller

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 November 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Horas de Angústia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Telepictures Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original ending had the terrorists hanged. But an ending that had them shot when they broke free aired in the US. The other ending was shown in internationally.

User Reviews

Fighting Back

This 1985 made-for-TV suspense drama about Mideast terrorists who hijack a flight from New York to London, only to eventually find themselves at the mercy of the very people they've held hostage, seems now to be very much like the 1998 feature film THE SIEGE.

Truth tends to be stranger than fiction, but somehow, from what we know so far, there may have been HOSTAGE FLIGHT-type struggles for retaking control of the passenger jets that rammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. I have the uneasy feeling that this film, though it might have gone unnoticed but for its theme of hostages fighting back, may be quite prescient now.