Flying from Lisbon to New York City, a commercial airline is flying over the ocean when two of its engines fail.  When the propellers fail to restart, Captain Steve Williams (Gary Merrill) realizes that he will have to land the plane in the ocean.  The Navy is standing by to rescue the passengers.  It’s just a question of whether or not Steve and his crew can land the plane without injuring the passengers or causing the plan to break in half.

This is a disaster film that doesn’t really have a disaster.  The members of the crew all work professionally and efficiently to make sure that the landing is a success, even though none of them have ever had to ditch a plane before.  The Navy shows up on time and ready to help.  With one exception, the passengers react calmly and do what they’re told.  An Orthodox priest prays for the plane.  The flight attendants neatly pack all of the kitchen utensils.  The only drama comes from a boy who is traveling with his dog Wilbur and is upset to hear that Wilbur will have to stay in the back of the plane, where he will probably drown.  The boy’s father says, “I’ll buy you a new dog,” and the boy asks that his baseball cap be placed by Wilbur’s cage so that Wilbur knows his owner was thinking of him.  Don’t worry kid!  Steve Williams isn’t going to let your dog die.

It’s strange to see a disaster film without any real drama.  The crew thinks that Williams can be overbearing but it turns out he knows what he’s doing.  At home, his wife (Nancy Davis, in her final film role) thinks that Steve is too hard on their son.  Their son is going to grow up knowing how to land airplanes in water.  This is almost the Sully origin story.  Otherwise, the film emphasizes the way that everyone works together and doesn’t panic.  The scene where the plane lands in the water features some good special effects but otherwise, the movie is pretty dull.  It could have used Leslie Nielsen and Peter Graves.

Actress Nancy Davis retired from movies after this one but she remained in the public eye as the wife of future President Ronald Reagan.