The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story

The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story
Directed by Paul Wendkos
Produced by Francis Ford Coppola (exec. producer)
Fred Roos
Tom Sternberg
Written by Norman Morrill
Starring Lindsay Wagner
Eli Danker
Sandy McPeak
Music by Gil Melle and Demis Roussos
Cinematography Chuck Arnold
Editing by James Galloway
Distributed by Columbia TriStar Television
Release date(s) 1988
Running time 100 minutes
Country USA
Language English, Arabic, German

The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story, also marketed as The Flight on video, is a 1988 made-for-TV film based on the actual hijacking of TWA Flight 847 as seen through the eyes of Uli Derickson, the chief flight attendant. Derickson herself acted as a consultant for the movie.

Contents

Cast

Synopsis

The movie showcases the first 48 hours of the hijacking, until Derickson's liberation. After the aircraft leaves Athens, Derickson is forced at gunpoint to the flight deck door by "Castro", one of the terrorists. She is able to defuse the situation by communicating with him in German, convincing him to release hostages upon landing in Beirut and Algiers and pleading for the other hijacker to stop harming the passengers. Her efforts are shown to save the lives of all but one hostage, Robert Stethem, whose body was thrown on the tarmac in Beirut.

Criticism

The film was featured in the documentary Reel Bad Arabs because the producers claim it showcases low key Arab stereotypes and portrays "The Middle East" as one large homogenous region.

Trivia

External links