Freefall: Flight 174

Original title: Falling from the Sky: Flight 174

TV Movie
1995
PG
1h 33m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

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

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

1.1K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

User reviews37

Featured review

5/10

A plane flies on the fumes

Free Fall from the Sky: Flight 174 is the true story of a Boeing 767 near-disaster in Canada when the plane runs out of fuel. It stars William Devane, Scott Hylands, Shelley Hack, Marietta Hartley, and Winston Reckert.

The Canadian government changed the way fuel was measured to kilos, I guess, and some duffess on the ground measured wrong and sent this thing up with not enough fuel to get where it was going. The highlight for me was seeing copilot Scott Hylands with a pencil and paper doing calculations.

Made in 1995, the move has that cheap Canadian feel to it, which movies did back then. For a disaster film, it drags. There was not enough script for 93 minutes.

There was a lot of inner monologuing which I could have done without.

The landing was good, mostly due to the excellent acting of William Devane. Look for lovely Molly Porter at 23 in a small role.

blanche-2
Jan 1, 2025
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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
At the start, when the two pilots exit the simulator, they complain to the simulator examiner about "a dumb set of scenarios" and "an impossible set of conditions, who ever dreamed that up". The examiner responds with "It isn't a dream, it happened". He would know, he is the real life Bob Pearson, the actual captain of the Gimli Glider.

Goofs
When the aircraft is shown taking off, it is a 737-200, as the engines are long and thin, whereas a 767 has wider engines

Quotes
[after the two pilots crash in the simulator]
Simulator pilot: Is this some kind of joke? There's no way to land that aircraft the way you guys got it programmed!
Simulator co-pilot: Dumb scenario if you ask me! Impossible set of conditions! Who ever dreamed that up?
Inspector: It isn't a dream. It happened.

Crazy credits
Bob Pearson, the real pilot of the "Gimli Glider" (the story that inspired this film), features as the Examiner in the simulator footage at the beginning of the film.