Page 6 - July 2023

Atlanta Air Charter, Inc.’s 1979 King Air 200 (N143DE) was used for exterior and flying shots in the movie “On a Wing and a Prayer” with Chuck Maire piloting the aircraft. (Aircraft Photo Courtesy: Atlanta Air Charter, Inc.)
HOW THE STORY ENDS
What happened to Doug White after his first King Air landing? According to material at the end of the film, just before credits roll: Days after Doug White landed the King Air, he began a fast track training course to become an instrument-rated pilot. He later became a multi-engine commercial rated pilot. He has since flown relief missions to Haiti, Belize and missions for the Veterans Airlift Command.
For those who haven’t yet watched the movie, which was originally scheduled for a theatrical release but instead debuted April 7 on the streaming service Amazon Prime, here is the studio synopsis:
In this extraordinary true story of faith and survival, “On a Wing and a Prayer” follows passenger Doug White’s (Dennis Quaid) harrowing journey to safely land a plane and save his entire family from insurmountable danger, after their pilot dies unexpectedly mid-flight.
It’s a faith-based film that is based on the true story of the White family’s flight in 2009 from Marco Island, Florida, returning home to Louisiana. According to a 2009 Associated Press account of the ordeal, Doug White
had earned his pilot’s license when he was 18 years but at 56 years old he had only recently started to fly again. He had fewer than 150 hours in a single-engine Cessna 172 and no experience flying the King Air 200. While he owned the King Air, he had never flown the airplane and was leasing it to an air charter firm.
In real life, White landed the King Air at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers about 30 minutes after takeoff and about 20 minutes after the pilot suffered a sudden cardiac death. He told AOPA at the time that he landed smoothly on his first attempt: “It was a greaser, to be honest. It didn’t jump or skip. It just set down and stopped in 3,500 feet or less.”
Brian Egeston wrote the screenplay and the film was directed by Sean McNamara, known for the films “Soul Surfer” and “The Miracle Season.” Filmmakers injected more drama by adding a storm to the situation as well as an aborted first landing attempt. There were other dramatic additions, from the family moving the deceased pilot from his seat so Terri, played by Heather Graham, could sit in the cockpit with her husband to an allergic reaction in the cabin by one of the daughters.
The King Air appears on screen for a majority of the 102-minute film, either with Quaid and Graham in the cockpit, the family in the cabin or exterior shots of the airplane flying and taxiing.
Two airplanes were used for those scenes: a prop created from an actual King Air 100 by Scroggins Aviation ›
4 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JULY 2023