Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771 1993

Jay Parkins Scott Bakula and his fellow pilot Frank Alan Fletcher have been hired to fly crop dusters for a local farmer, but their high-risk stunts lead to them being fired. With his wife Ellen Rebecca Rigg pregnant and counting on him, Jay struggles to keep a steady income. A tempting new job offers a much brighter payoff: fly Cessna 188 crop dusters from Fiji to Sydney, making stops in Honolulu, Pago Pago, and Norfolk Island along the way. The fee is handsome, the risk is real, and Ellen, worried for their baby, tells him that money isn’t worth the danger. Still, the lure of the contract proves too strong, and Jay and Frank accept the assignment.

The journey begins at dawn, their aircraft loaded with extra fuel for the long haul and each plane equipped with an automatic direction finder (ADF) to help steer toward the destination. Meanwhile, Air New Zealand senior pilot Gordon Vette Robert Loggia is poised on the brink of retirement but about to captain Flight 308 — a brief two-hour hop from Fiji’s Nadi International Airport to Auckland. Flight 308 is staffed with a full crew, including the 1st Officer Mike Bishop, preparing to guide the passengers safely on their route.

Jay and Frank sail through Honolulu without incident, but trouble hits at Pago Pago when Frank crashes into the water after takeoff. He survives, but his plane is destroyed. Jay expresses readiness to turn back, yet Frank insists on pressing forward for the big payoff, convincing him to continue. After more than fourteen hours aloft, Jay realizes his situation is perilous: his radio contact with Norfolk Island has vanished, and his ADF is broken, leaving him with only a hazy sense of where he is. He contacts air traffic control for help, and a search and rescue operation is launched. Storms complicate the effort, but Flight 308 is identified as a potential rescue candidate, prompting Gordon to make a bold choice: divert from his own flight plan to search for Jay, risking the comfort and safety of his passengers.

Back home, Ellen endures a deep emotional strain as she waits for news about her husband and unborn child. The search intensifies off the coast of New Zealand, where Gordon faces the challenge of coordinating a rescue from the cockpit of a commercial jet. He relies on radio triangulation and comparisons of the sun’s position to estimate Jay’s location, an intricate procedure that tests both his skill and resolve. As daylight wanes, Jay weighs a desperate option—ditch the plane while there’s still enough light to survive a water landing, fully aware that even a successful water descent carries extreme risks.

In a tense culmination, Gordon closes in and refines the search, guiding the rescue effort with precision. The moment of contact finally arrives, and Jay is located in time to ensure a safe return home to Ellen and their child. The ordeal underscores the thin line between daring professional choices and the responsibilities that tether a person to family, reminding both the crew and viewers of the fragility of life when the open skies invite bold moves.