Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 (1992 TV Movie) User Reviews

Shows the miracle of crew skill and community organization.

[fkerr · 6/10 · 18 April 2002]

Although I scored this film as a "6" because it suffered some from lack of character development and pedestrian acting, it is a powerful viewing experience. A skilled United Airlines crew and unprecedented community organization saved many. In fact, the emergency workers in the Sioux City area achieved, on a smaller scale, what those in New York did in 2001. Charlton Heston was ideal in the role of Captain Al Haynes.

I worked in the city government at Sioux City and then at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center years before these events. I participated in some of the very early planning that paid off in 1998. What I saw in the film rings true.

"This (Was) The Day ..."

[kensirhan-86198 · 7/10 · 20 July 2019]

In the 27 years since this brave little production first aired, I've seen it only once

• at its original showing; and even then, like old gal said long ago, "only partly."

The memory hasn't faded of how, after the effectively done crash sequence (blending what little actual footage there is of Flight 232 coming in with well-done closeups of the flaming plane skidding along the ground), as soon as it came back after the commercial break, footage of screaming fire engines racing to the rescue went PFFT along with the house's power - & that of, as it turned out, hundreds of other homes in the area due to a different kind of crash: a stupid drunk driver having smashed into a power pole and left more than just my family totally in the dark for like 4 hours after the movie's end. It's never been rerun that I know of, but I still recall how great were the performances of Richard Thomas, James Coburn and Tom O'Brien, who played the ATC bringing Flight 232 in - especially old Coburn, completely out of his cowboy/military element as a 1st responder. He looked like his outsized personality was straining the seams of that turnout rig but he didn't come across as "too big" for the role; rather, he impressed as exactly the kind of fireman somebody in trouble would want on the scene to save them. I could have done without that doddering old gun freak Ben-Hur playing Captain Alfred Haynes - an interesting coincidence at this 30-year mark since the crash that it had occurred 30 years since his awesome take in that role - but he was tolerable at it. "Left turns ... left turns!" he begged through gritted teeth before the plane hit the ground is a line etched in memory along with how, as I'd had my TV on mute at the time that day of heroism & heartbreak, I was puzzled by the This Is News? footage of some plane about to land somewhere, only to discover, and go down crying at, the awful truth behind it. I even still have the (resurrected) Life magazine issue featuring Flight 232, & sometimes its "Air Disasters" segment runs on Smithsonian, but I wonder why "Crash Landing" has never been reaired in all this time? Perhaps there was a 10th- or 25th-anniversary reissue of which I'm just not aware, but given how much small-screen trash is so widely distributed - NBC/CBS legal/fire "dramas" come to mind - a retelling of how 4 true heroes of the sky managed to save 184 out of 296 souls onboard their crippled airplane from certain doom for all not receiving even a small fraction of that kind of exposure is a serious disappointment. May the original 112, the miraculously right-place-right-time Captain Dennis Fitch & any/all others in the interval who have now joined them rest forever in peace.

Schmaltzy

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 23 November 2019]

I caught this on TV under the title A THOUSAND HEROES. It's a typical schmaltzy TV movie with the hook of being based on real-life events. One again a plane goes out of control and has to attempt a crash landing with a heroic pilot the only one with the power to save the hundreds of lives involved. So far, so ordinary and indeed this does play out as a box-ticking exercise with precisely nothing happening that you don't expect. However, it does benefit from a better cast than usual, with Charlton Heston revisiting his '70s glory days alongside a sentimental turn from Richard Thomas and a minor but scene-stealing James Coburn.

Miracle At Sioux City

[virek213 · 8/10 · 31 May 2004]

First having aired on TV in 1992, CRASH LANDING is a highly well-made dramatization of the saga of United Airlines Flight 232 which, while enroute from Denver to Chicago on July 19, 1989, suffered a catastrophic explosion in its tail engine which severed all the plane's hydraulic lines. This meant that the crew, led by Captain Al Haynes, had almost no control over the aircraft, and that they would have to come in for an extremely difficult landing at Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa. With no way to stop, the plane broke up on impact, scattering debris across the runway and into nearby cornfields. But miraculously, of the 296 people onboard, including Haynes and his crew, 184 managed to survive the horrific ordeal.

Utilizing some of the actual TV footage of UAL 232 coming in for landing and breaking apart upon touchdown, CRASH LANDING details how Haynes and his crew managed to keep the plane in the air long enough to attempt the landing in Sioux City, and how the Sioux City ground crew was prepared for the ultimate emergency. Charlton Heston does his usual professional job in his portrayal of Al Haynes, and James Coburn is equally commanding as Jim Hathaway, the chief emergency coordinator at Sioux City. Richard Thomas, though he does not necessarily escape his "John boy" image from "The Waltons", also scores as the green rookie on Coburn's ground crew.

Although it is a TV movie, the story and cast are all ably directed by veteran Lamont Johnson, with a good script by Harve Bennett (STAR TREK III). CRASH LANDING (later retitled A THOUSAND HEROES) is one of the best true-life airline disaster survival stories ever put on TV, and is well worth seeing.

True story

[jmackey · 18 October 2003]

I was one of those who responded to this plane crash (as an amateur radio operator for emergency services), it is a very true story. The level of effort put forth by the volunteers, and other personel was amazing. Most other cities would have been in serious trouble to have this sort of thing happen. The movie is highly recommended.

One of the worst films about an actual event.

[fbm72751 · 2/10 · 3 July 2019]

The circumstances of the plight of Flight 232 are well documented. With it's stellar cast I felt this would be a can't-miss. How totally wrong was I. Instead of focusing on the drama in the cockpit, we're seeing so little of that but rather the happenings in the personal life of Richard Thomas's character, which are probably all fiction . We don't even see the cockpit until off duty pilot Denny Fitch comes into it. In the real life event, they had been struggling to keep the plane flying for awhile before Fitch came into the picture & offered to help. The mock up of the DC-10 cockpit is as phony as a $3 bill in which nothing at all resembles the real thing. The only thing real was when they used the actual footage of the plane coming in and crash landing. This was clearly a showcase for Richard Thomas and not for the actual event. This DVD got tossed in the trash.

very good movie

[dbwrbw · 10/10 · 2 February 2007]

I am an airline employee. After seeing this movie, I studied the things that happened and how they controlled the aircraft. To turn this aircraft only to the right in a "fugoid" and to arrive exactly on course to land on runway 22 was absolutely brilliant!! Especially doing the math in his head to figure out the headings. Capt. Al Haynes was truly a great and incredibly intelligent pilot. If it wasn't for his great flying, a lot more people would have been killed. I applaud him, Denny Finch, and his whole crew on a very well job done. I hope they all will enjoy retirement and remember that a lot of people are alive today because of them.

Outstanding - better than Fearless / more accurate

[tmancuso · 9/10 · 26 March 2006]

I give this a 9 out of 10 for accuracy in portraying the events / crash of UA232. Having personally met and spoken with survivor Jerry Schemmel, as well as reading his book and other accounts, this film was fantastic to say the least. As far as rating it as a 'movie' goes, of course it was only a 'made for TV' movie, and as such lacking much of the big-production Hollywood quality - still, this was finely done, emotionally compelling, and effective at bringing home both the tragedy and the Victory of the day.

Read the book(s), (Chosen to Live- ISBN: 0965208656), enjoy the movie. For additional viewing, check out 'Fearless' starring Jeff Bridges. This movie was taken loosely from the event, although in no way non-fictional.

This is worth a look!

[TSMChicago · 9/10 · 11 September 1998]

I viewed this film as "A Thousand Heroes" on HBO and I appreciated having the opportunity to watch it without commercial interruptions.

This film, a true story, details the events leading up to the crash of United flight 232 in Iowa and the incredible survival stories in the aftermath. The Sioux City area emergency services teams drilled for just such an event and their efforts resulted in many lives being saved. These stories of survival are what make this film special and quite moving at times. James Coburn plays the gruff fire chief who at one point just can't believe that the bodies of the victims will have to remain on the tarmac overnight. "Shouldn't somebody say a prayer over them or something?" he asks during an emotional scene. A child survives the crash because he had the presence of mind to jump from plane before it broke up into pieces. An injured passenger is brought into the emergency room as the paramedic says "Take good care of him. We had to leave his wife on the runway."

The sense of duty and compassion displayed by the population of Sioux City and the gratitude of the passengers is very refreshing. The rapport that develops between the pilot (Charlton Heston) and the rookie air traffic controller on duty is very satisfying. Survival and stories of heroism are stressed rather than carnage and special effects. Especially chilling is the fact that news footage of the plane hitting the runway is used during the crash sequence.

"A Thousand Heroes" is quite an enjoyable film that depicts some of the best traits of human nature. It's worth a look!

Well worth the viewing

[smurzlfit · 9/10 · 29 December 2004]

I first saw this movie on TV, and then found it online for purchase several years later. It is a great depiction of how to do things right from an emergency services standpoint. So much so, that I show it in EMT refresher classes that I teach to emphasize the points of teamwork and advanced planning that are required to respond adequately to this type of emergency.

This is an excellent viewing for those in emergency services that are used to seeing things done from a Hollywood standpoint-it doesn't glamorize the job like so many other attempts at this type of movie do, but still recognizes the contributions made by volunteers and career responders.

Surprisingly well done and gripping.

[jeffb-314-169042 · 9/10 · 11 March 2012]

Compared to all the disaster movies released over the years, "Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232" is surprisingly well done and gripping. The fact that it is a true story makes it all the more appealing.

The movie details the heroic efforts of both the flight crew and the emergency responders on the ground at Sioux City.

The movie begins by showing the people at the Sioux City airport engaging in a disaster simulation and shows how they learned how to better prepare for a real crash.

When the flight crew of flight 232 lose all hydraulic control they start flying in circles and have to learn how to control the direction of the plane by adjusting the amount of thrust in each engine.

We see many interesting details like the fact that as the crippled plane was coming in for a landing, the control tower realized they were lined up on the wrong runway - which happened to be the same runway where all the emergency vehicles were sitting. Dozens of firetrucks and ambulances had to quickly scramble to get out of the way of the jetliner.

Overall, despite the fact that this was a made-for-TV movie, I thought it was far superior to most any disaster flick I have ever seen.

very realistic

[Paula_brook2 · 8/10 · 6 July 2005]

I saw this on satellite earlier and was really impressed with everything,the mixture of stars involved,acting quality, gritty realism etc and it gave me a real insight into what the emergency services actually do in the event of something like this occurring.- Excellent. Charlon Heston was particularly well cast in the role of the captain of the ill fated flight 232,as was James Coburn as the fire chief with years of experience who acted in a very professional manner although at times slightly brusque but his character was indeed definitely a man to get the job done properly,so to speak. In my opinion the film was not only gripping,as near to reality as anyone could possibly portray but it also showed the real emotion behind what must have been a terrible frightening incident for everyone involved.-Great film.

Superb TV Movie Based on True Events

[mrb1980 · 9/10 · 27 April 2007]

The Rescue of Flight 232 (aka A Thousand Heroes) is an extremely good TV movie that manages to entertain and inspire despite its depiction of a tragic plane crash in Iowa in 1989. The three leads are very good. Charlton Heston, as Captain Al Haynes, and Richard Thomas and James Coburn as rescue personnel bring great realism to their roles as the tragedy unfolds and heroic efforts are made to save the injured. The supporting cast is great, including standout performances by Tom O'Brien as an air traffic controller and Philip Baker Hall as a crusty airport staffer-turned-rescuer. Real footage of the crippled airliner and great work recreating the accident scene add immensely to the film.

Hope you can find this film--it's a true winner all around.

True Story, as told by a second party

[ladyblackcat00 · 10/10 · 20 November 2006]

I happen to have been best friends with a young woman named Sherry Allen. She worked at the formerly known Marian Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa. Now it is known as Mercy hospital. She told me of that day that she had just gotten off of work that morning. She got a phone call to come back to the hospital to work yet again. From what I recall her saying, she told me that the line of ambulances was long, and she jumped into what she termed as chaos. She had just completed her Nurses Aide training, and to be a part of this catastrophe, she holds it dear in her heart that she was there to help save any who survived that day.

i know as I write this, it is now 2006, but to any and all health care workers out there who have faced similar disasters, I as an American, applaud your hard work. God Bless you All.

Important documentary feature of an airplane emergency and accident with very extensive rescue operations.

[clanciai · 9/10 · 18 September 2022]

This is just a TV film with no cinematography, no character development, thronged with technical details about which most audiences would understand nothing, and in poor TV quality as well, and yet it is an amazing film well worth spending some time following for an hour and a half and every second of it, so many people being involved, and every detail being true to meticulous accuracy. It happened for real, it was an impossible situation, the entire hydraulic system being put of order by an accidental explosion in the tail, and still the pilots did their best to manage the plane with 300 passengers manually and get it down with an unavoidable crash for a result, leaving 110 dead but 186 survivors, which actually was a miracle, managed by the skill of the pilots, the captain being Charlton Heston here, and he is perfect for the role. The most impressing thing about the film is its documentary value as a detailed reconstruction of a tremendous air plane emergency and accident, actually involving a thousand heroes in the very extensive rescue operations. The incident has become a legend, and the film succeeds brilliantly well in immortalizing the epic occurrence. If you often go travelling by flight, this film is recommended for a warning and important information of the consequences of a possible accident.