- An airline executive refuses to believe that pilot error, by his friend, caused a fatal crash and persists in looking for another reason.
- An airliner crashes near Los Angeles due to an unusual string of coincidences. A stewardess, who is the sole survivor, joins airline executives in discovering the causes of the crash.—Arthur H. Olsen <102526.2017@compuserve.com>
- After a Consolidated Airlines flight crashes resulting in the deaths of 57 passengers and crew, those on the ground try to piece it all together. What is known is that the pilot, Jack Savage, reported a fire in their right engine and then the flight loses communications with the airport. One survivor, flight attendant Martha Webster, tells them that the left engine fire alarm also went off after the communications break but a test of the wreckage shows that the engine was in perfect working order. The investigation is looking at attributing the crash to pilot error. Savage had something of a playboy reputation and was reportedly seen out in a couple of bars with a friend just a few hours before flight time. The airline's director of operations, Sam McBane, knew Savage well as they flew together in World War II and refuses to accept the verdict. He decides to do his own research and he sees a completely different side of Savage that dispels the myths around the man. He convinces the airline to allow him to recreate the flight which delivers the solution to the mystery.—garykmcd
- Sam McBane is an executive at Consolidated Airlines. One of Consolidated's passenger planes crashes shortly after takeoff, killing 53 people on board. There is only one survivor, a flight attendant. The pilot of the plane was Captain Jack Savage, a long-time friend of Sam's. Sam and Jack flew transport planes together in WW2. Jack was a playboy, and the press are painting him as as irresponsible and undisciplined...and the likely cause of the crash. Consolidated's CEO and other executives are quite happy to go along with this view, as it makes Jack Savage the scapegoat for the crash and absolves the airline from blame. However, Sam thinks else-wise and sets out to find the truth, and hopefully clear his friend.—grantss
- Airline executive Sam McBane goes out on a limb to try and prove that a major crash wasn't the fault of his pilot friend, even though it may jeopodise his chances of promotion to Vice President.—Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
- Pilot Jack Savage (Rod Taylor) is suspected of drinking the night before a flight and causing an airliner crash that leaves only a single survivor, one of the flight attendants. Savage is suspected of being the cause because the investigation rules out sabotage and mechanical failure of the second engine.
His wartime buddy, airline executive Sam C. McBane (Glenn Ford) is convinced of his friend's innocence and investigates doggedly. His investigation, and his relentless defense of Savage, imperils a possible promotion with the airline. The other airline executive being considered for the promotion is an engineer and is happy to discover the second engine did not fail and that the crash may be a pilot error, the pilot being an old friend of McBane's and working in McBane's area of the airline. The airline executives would like to have the pilot blamed to reduce the airline's liability to the victims' families.
Much of the movie is spent recreating McBane's war relationship with Savage and following up on his recent activities to justify his defense of the dead pilot. Pushing his credibility with the airline to the limit, he convinces them to recreate the accident flight in order to prove up his theory that the crash was the result of a combination of unusual events. McBane tracks down Savage's drinking companion, Mickey, and discovers that Savage was a member of AA and was not drinking alcohol while out with his friend.
During the flight, the flight attendant brings up a cup of coffee to the flight deck, which she remembers the pilot sitting it on the instrument console. Recreating this, they experience the same radio communications failure and see the second engine failure light caused by an instrument panel shortage from the spilled coffee, thus proving the premise of the accident not being pilot error.
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