Freefall: Flight 174 (1995)

True story of a brand-new Canadian airliner running out of fuel in-flight and forced to glide to the nearest airfield.

Director:

Jorge Montesi

Writers:

William Hoffer (book), Marilyn Hoffer (book)

Stars:

William Devane, Scott Hylands, Shelley Hack

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Devane	...	Capt. Bob Pearson
Scott Hylands	...	Maurice Quintal
Shelley Hack	...	Lynn Brown
Kevin McNulty	...	Larry Roberts
Gwynyth Walsh	...	Pearl Dion
Gloria Carlin	...	Meg
Suzy Joachim	...	Florence Bisaillon
Nicholas Turturro	...	Al Williams
Winston Rekert	...	Rick Dion
Mariette Hartley	...	Beth Pearson
Philip Granger	...	Phil Lyons
Philip Maurice Hayes	...	Bob Rand (as Philip Hayes)
David Lewis	...	Frank Farr
Sheelah Megill	...	Mrs. Hebert
John Novak	...	Len Daniels

Storyline

It's the summer of 1983. Canada World Airways' brand-new Boeing 767 leaves Montreal bound for Edmonton. When the plane reaches its cruise altitude, the impossible happens: the plane runs out of fuel, due to a miscalculation by the ground staff in Montreal. Captain Bob Pearson and First Officer Maurice Quintal face a potentially deadly disaster in this true story, as the 767, with about 60 souls on board, slowly falls from the sky.

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Plot Keywords:

boeing 767 | disaster | montreal quebec | edmonton alberta | flight attendant | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 February 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Freefall: Flight 174

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hill/Fields Entertainment, Pacific Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real names of three key individuals - Bob Pearson, Maurice Quintal, and Rick Dion - and their families were retained for the movie, but the names of other people as well as the airline and the flight number were changed. It was really Air Canada flight 143.

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Goofs

Prior to the breakdown of flight 174, the altimeter in the cockpit reads 21,960 feet. The next shot shows the ATC radar screen, with the altitude of flight 174 reading 33,500 feet.

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Quotes

[small talk between the first officer and a flight attendant]
Maurice Quintal: How's things in the cabin? Busy?
Florence Bisaillon: [chuckles] It's less than half-full! But I prefer when it's so busy. Then, I can't stop. Time goes by faster.
Maurice Quintal: Well, you wouldn't get to enjoy the flight, eh?
Florence Bisaillon: That's fine by me. I hate flying.

User Reviews

Smacks of 1970s Disaster movie stuff.

I saw a dramatised 1 hour documentary of this accident on the Canadian Air Crash Invetsigations series "Mayday". The dramatised bits and interviews with passengers did a much better job of entertaining than this movie does, with the added bonus of conveying what really happened.

Instead of focusing on facts this film opts to go for 1970s disaster movie approach with casting, acting, set design, music and the invitable padding out with irrelevant sub-plots. The only thing that is missing is here Charton Heston but I guess he was too old by 1995 to pass as an airline Captain! Much of the dialogue between the crew in this movie is invented and they simply don't cut it as professional airmen. There is too much sighing and emotion, and too little professionalism. Most of the time they don't look like they are sitting a real cockpit, but a large wooden room in a studio.

Many of the events are exaggerated for sensational effect, and some events invented. This would be alright but it's poorly done and it just cheapens the movie. As do the invented dramatisations with passengers and crew.

I supposed it's a watchable film in is own right...I mean, I did watch it!