Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.