Having listened to the actual ATC recordings of this event several times on YouTube, I was excited to see a movie was made of the event but found this video highly offensive. In the opening, viewers are told, "What you are about to see is a true story..." Doug White is portrayed as a near zero-time pilot who doesn't even know proper ATC lingo, but in reality he was a licensed pilot having flown single engine planes. The King Air was far beyond his experience being a twin engine and far more complex than the Cessna planes he flew years before.
I found very annoying all the extra drama, inaccuracies, and the silliness from the two kids and every scene they were in. The slow motion scene where the young girl walks outside, looks skyward, and gets hit with a raindrop was just icing on the Corny Scale. I guess the writers felt another crisis was needed by adding the onboard medical emergency where one sister struggled to save the other's life while mom looks over her shoulder with a near ho hum response as the girl becomes entrapped in the luggage netting. And toss in a 3rd near death issue with Doug flying into the thunderstorm. I think the writers dropped the ball by not having the plane run out of fuel on final approach so that Doug had to fly a glider to the runway and either land it or die. And in the real story, the pilot could not be removed from the left seat, so they strapped him back in to try to keep him from falling into the controls.
There is truth surrounding this movie. Doug White is a real person, he and his family were on a King Air where the pilot died, controllers helped him to get the plane to the airport, and they all survived. The actual story itself is fascinating and ripe with drama, tension, and relief in the ending. Simply staying true and telling the story as it really occurred would have made a 10 star movie, but this story was ruined by writers who felt the need to dress it up. A true story? Hardly. Sadly, the truth got lost in the fantasies of the writers. Do yourself a favor. Go to YouTube, find the event, and listen to it. You'll be on the edge of your seat from the first radio call to the landing. So much better than this highly fictionalized movie.
I found very annoying all the extra drama, inaccuracies, and the silliness from the two kids and every scene they were in. The slow motion scene where the young girl walks outside, looks skyward, and gets hit with a raindrop was just icing on the Corny Scale. I guess the writers felt another crisis was needed by adding the onboard medical emergency where one sister struggled to save the other's life while mom looks over her shoulder with a near ho hum response as the girl becomes entrapped in the luggage netting. And toss in a 3rd near death issue with Doug flying into the thunderstorm. I think the writers dropped the ball by not having the plane run out of fuel on final approach so that Doug had to fly a glider to the runway and either land it or die. And in the real story, the pilot could not be removed from the left seat, so they strapped him back in to try to keep him from falling into the controls.
There is truth surrounding this movie. Doug White is a real person, he and his family were on a King Air where the pilot died, controllers helped him to get the plane to the airport, and they all survived. The actual story itself is fascinating and ripe with drama, tension, and relief in the ending. Simply staying true and telling the story as it really occurred would have made a 10 star movie, but this story was ruined by writers who felt the need to dress it up. A true story? Hardly. Sadly, the truth got lost in the fantasies of the writers. Do yourself a favor. Go to YouTube, find the event, and listen to it. You'll be on the edge of your seat from the first radio call to the landing. So much better than this highly fictionalized movie.