The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) on Netflix
A sandstorm disables a cargo plane's engines, and pilot Frank Towns crash-lands in the Sahara. Passenger Heinrich Dorfmann proposes building a new aircraft from the wreckage.
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Trailer
Plot summary
Frank Towns pilots a cargo plane out of Jaghbub, bound for Benghazi in Libya, and Lew Moran is the navigator. The passengers include British soldiers Captain Harris and Sergeant Watson, the French physician Dr. Renaud, accountant Standish, and the German engineer Heinrich Dorfmann. A sandstorm kills the engines, and Towns puts the plane down in the Sahara. The radio will not work, and the site lies far off course, beyond the reach of searchers. The dates aboard are plentiful, but the water is rationed to last ten or fifteen days. Dorfmann proposes a replacement aircraft built from the wreckage.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Stunt pilot Paul Mantz, co-owner of Tallmantz Aviation, was flying the Phoenix P-1 for the cameras on July 8, 1965, filling in for his partner Frank Tallman, who had injured his leg. The fuselage buckled during a touchdown, the machine broke apart and cartwheeled, killing Mantz and seriously injuring a stuntman.
- Principal photography finished on August 13, 1965, but to complete the flying shots a North American O-47A from the Planes of Fame Air Museum was modified as a Phoenix stand-in: its canopy was removed, skids were attached to the main landing gear and a strake added to the tail. It appears in the final flying scenes.
- The last credit on the film remembers Paul Mantz, the stunt flyer killed during production, describing him as a fine man and a brilliant flyer who gave his life in the making of the film.
