Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac

I remembered the crash vividly and how there were only five survivors. I also remember this movie very well. The cast was pictured sitting around, looking very serious, holding life preservers and flotation rings. There was no scene of the crash, we see a man in a car looking up at the unseen plane, then the screen goes black and we hear the crash; fade to commercial. Comes back and we see people running to the bridge and the edge of the river.

Before the crash, we are handed the stories of Jamie Rose, Richard Backus, Richard Masur, Donelly Rhodes, Barry Corbin, Stephen Macht and Dinah Manoff. The only survivor we are not told about is Kelly Duncan, played by Kathleen Wilhote. This crash was the one that began pointing out the survivors came from the end of the plane, and all we see of Kelly Duncan is that she is seated in the very rear of the plane. The makers of this film were too eager to tell this story, something that, thanks to the Amy Fisher movies, we have hopefully seen the last of. Because of this, the part of rescuer Lenny Skutnik was reduced to an absolute minimum with no emphasis whatsoever. Skutnik felt the movie was exploitive of the survivors, among them, Prisilla Tirado, played by Dinah Manoff, whom he had rescued. Therefore the part of Richard Masur came into prominence. An outstanding moment is when relations are trying to find out if their loved ones have survived. We see Ken Olin, who knows his fiancée cannot have lived. The nurse asks who he is waiting for. He tells her 'Nikki'. She replies the female survivors are Kelly and Prisilla and Pat.

He leaps to his feet and says she goes by the name Pat. From there, we venture to Corbin's survival and learn that Pat Finch, played by Jeannetta Arnette would walk down the aisle at her wedding one year later. Except for the Skutnik problem, this could have been an enlightening movie.

I remember seeing this when it first aired. I thought it would be another junk TV movie, but it was a little above average. I recall thinking how cold that water must have been for the survivors and if I could withstand it. I got a chill in the beginning right before the plane went down. The pilot said to the co-pilot something like,"Were going down", and the response was ,"I know it." Heres another movie that should be on DVD. This is TV queen Dinah Manoff at her finest.They used real footage of the plane crash inter-cut with the movie. I'd like to see it again. Maybe it will pop up on a cable channel. These old 80s TV movies are hard to come by.

This is a movie that should be put on video. It is very well done and very accurate. I haven't seen it since it originally aired on network television, but I still remember it very well. I remember the character played by Donnelly Rhodes kept passing his opportunity to escape to other survivors. It was heart-breaking to watch that play out. I remember Richard Masur's character trying to swim out to assist the survivors. I remember the woman who lost her husband and baby trying to find her will to survive. I was young when it aired and I remember people making a big deal about it the days leading up to it because it was so effective and accurate. I know I'd love to see it again.

This TV-movie about the January 13, 1982 crash of Air Florida Flight #90 into the Potomac river is for the most part a well-made docudrama surrounding many of the people involved in the story. Legal hurdles prevented some stories from being depicted, in particular that of Lenny Skutnik who dove into the river to rescue Priscilla Tirado from drowning. Skutnik felt that any movie about the event was exploitative and thus refused to let his story be dramatized. His scene is confined to a look-alike actor (billed only as "Man On Shore" in the original credits) jumping in at the appropriate moment. However, compensation is offered by focusing on the more neglected story of mental hospital worker Roger Olian (Richard Masur) who first swam out to give the trapped passengers enocouragement before the helicopters arrived. His story is as remarkable as Skutnik's ultimately and the TV movie allowed those of us who weren't familiar with his efforts to see how there was more than one hero that day who jumped into the Potomac to provide help.

The docudrama approach with no special effects of the plane crash managed to work well because there is a desire to keep things as authentic as possible, which includes a large use of actual news footage of the rescue operations, which is blended in seamlessly with the scenes of actors in the tank. Gil Melle's score is a bit awkward and the most dated aspect of the production, but still has some hauntingly beautiful sections when he gets away from the synths.

A few postscripts to the story of the survivors. Nikki Felch's marriage to David Frank did not last and she sadly died of pancreatic cancer in 2002, just two weeks after Burt Hamilton also passed away. Joe Stiley was forced into early retirement by his injuries and lives in Washington state. Priscilla Tirado has not granted an interview in more than ten years and remains traumatized by the events that saw her lose her husband and baby. By far, the happiest story has been that of Flight Attendant Kelly Duncan (who is given the least attention of any of the survivors in the movie, with greater focus coming on the other two flight attendants who were killed) who today teaches at a Christian pre-school and has three children.

I was scheduled to be on this exact flight, returning to Florida from Washington after doing some military research at the Pentagon, however due to a family health problem canceled out two days before ...

Have thought of this moment many, many times over these last now 25+ years in wondering " what if " ...

This docudrama sets out the most important facts of that horrible day in very close detail ... It may possibly have been better, however it does tell the true story ...

The major miracle is that there were 5 survivors and even more most heroic men and women who took it upon themselves to throw themselves into this unbelievable rescue operation ... They are the real and true heroes of that day ...