Fire and Rain is a 1989 American made-for-television disaster film directed by Jerry J. Jameson, starring Charles Haid, Angie Dickinson, and Tom Bosley, as well as an all-star ensemble television cast in supporting roles. It is based on the Delta Air Lines Flight 191 plane crash at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on August 2, 1985, as depicted in Fire and Rain: A Tragedy in American Aviation (1986) by Jerome Greer Chandler.
Jerry J. Jameson had become known for his work on "movie-of-the-week phenomenon and group-jeopardy suspense and terror", although he also became a specialist in "one-off" television and film features. The film was an example of the aviation "disaster" film, as well, it also very much fits the additional genre of the complex, heavily character-driven ensemble cast film, exploring the personal dramas and interactions that develop among the passengers and crew as they deal with a deadly onboard emergency. It, however, veers from the traditional format as it is based on a real-life accident. It originally debuted on the USA television network.
Plot
On August 2, 1985, Delta Airlines Flight 191 a Lockheed L-1011 flown by Captain Connors (John Beck) and First Officer Rudy Price (Dick Christie) is preparing to land at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on its single stop, flying from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Los Angeles via Dallas Fort Worth. Air Traffic controllers advise that a thunderstorm is present. The flight crew surmise that the plane might get washed, but have no other worries about the storm being so near. Passengers such as Lucille Jacobson (Patti LaBelle), who is terrified of flying, however, are fearful about landing in a storm. Others, like Marilyn (Gloria Hocking) and Mike Steinberg (Joe Berryman) are thinking more about their California vacation. As the rain pelts down on the plane, there is no warning of an impending crisis.
Without warning, the L-1011 is slammed into the ground, a mile short of the runway, slicing into a small car on the road, killing William Mayberry (Rudy Young), before skidding onto the field and exploding. Within a minute, all airport fire and emergency units are alerted. Five minutes into the rescue, first responders Jack Ayers (Dean Jones), Beth Mancini (Angie Dickinson), led by Bob Sonnamaker (Charles Haid) are rapidly deployed to the scene. The severed rear section of the plane is where most survivors are found although flight attendants at the front also survive.
Cast
Charles Haid as Bob Sonnamaker
Angie Dickinson as Beth Mancini
Tom Bosley as Derryl Price
Robert Guillaume as Carter Guthrie
Susan Ruttan as Sandra Thompson
John Beck as Captain Connors
Dean Jones as Jack Ayers
Dick Christie as First Officer Rudy Price
Penny Fuller as Peggy Hamilton
David Hasselhoff as Dr. Dan Meyer
Patti LaBelle as Lucille Jacobson
Lawrence Pressman as Paul Hamilton
Joe Berryman as Michael Steinberg
Gloria Hocking as Marilyn Steinberg
Blue Deckert as Jim Rodman
L. Gregg Loso as Clint Smith
Marianne Rogers as Wanda
Angie Bolling as Helen Smith/Sally Howard
Jerry Young as Christopher Meier
Rudy Young as William Mayberry
Annie Biggs as Terri Mayberry
Desi Doyen as Susan Anderson
Gary Moody as Charles Petty
Vernon Grote as Rescue Worker
Macaulay Bruton as Rabbi
Norma Harris Gordon as Amy Hughes
Patricia Zehentmayr as herself
Phil Shirey as Lead Person
Production
Filmed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the film was a docudrama that recreated the events of August 2, 1985, when Delta Airlines Flight 191, a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar airliner flying from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Los Angeles was coming into Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on its single stop on the route. It unexpectedly flew into an isolated thunderstorm hovering very close to the field. The storm created a dangerous "wind shear", or "microburst", dashing it into the ground just slightly more than a mile north of the outer perimeter.